Sponsors needed to support local designers
It begins with one's products being appreciated on home turf, then the outside world will also buy into it.
MBOMBELA – It is nine days before the Fashion Designer Talent Search auditions commence at Elangeni Lodge in KaMhlushwa.
Organisers are still apprehensive about whether they will be able to secure sponsorship for the main event at the Union Motors in November.
“Let the search begin,” says Mpumalanga Fashion Extravaganza’s (MFE) co-founder, Ms Stella Mabunda. “It all started in 2014 when it was still known as the Kasi Fashion Show, but it didn’t have a long-term impact on the designers’ growth. We then decided to take it up a notch and empower local designers and crafters.
“Such developmental initiatives need financial backing because this is not only a commercial entity to rake in money, but it goes hand in hand with empowering our fashion designers who may, in turn, transform into commercial entities themselves. It begins with one’s products being appreciated on home turf, then the outside world will also buy into it
“As this is a two-fold empowerment exercise, the designers gain maximum exposure, and so do the local models explained Mabunda.
MFE will give R3 000 to all the top designers from each district in the province. This is meant to assist them in purchasing material to partake in the main event in November where they will compete against nine designers, which will be selected from the districts during the auditions.
“MFE wants the search to have a positive impact on the designers, help them grow as brands to be proudly Mpumalanga products.
We have approached the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency, the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation and the Department of Economic Development and Tourism to come on board to assist MFE to realise its vision and make it a reality. We are waiting for a positive response,” she concluded.
Auditions will take place at Elangeni Lodge on August 13 from 12.00 to 16.00 and on August 27 it will be held in Bushbuckridge. On September 10 it moves to KwaMhlanga and on September 24, auditions will be held in Ermelo.
Enquiries: MFE on 072-114-5286/078-361-1606.
