Durban designer hopeful for the Young Designer Award

YOUNG designer Emmanuel Kucherera is grateful for the opportunity to showcase his work in one of South Africa’s biggest horse-racing and fashion events, the HollywoodBets Durban July. Kucherera is one of the top 25 finalists who are part of the competition by the Hollywood Foundation that aims to give talented design students an opportunity to kickstart their journey towards a career in fashion. 

The HollywoodBets Durban July Young Designer Awards take place before the race day where they announce the top three that walk away with a bursary worth R100 000. It is open to fashion students studying with accredited colleges or universities.

Also read: 6 stars named for Hollywoodbets Durban July Invited Designer Showcase

Kucherera is one of the young creatives who are in the running for the prize – he is a first-year student at the Fezile Fashion Skills Academy. 

Given the ‘Out of This World’ theme, the young designer said he thought of the fictional Cybertronians from the movie, Transformers.

 “Cybertronians, being robotic species, originated from an artificial planet in the galaxy called Cybertron. These robots are well known for their ability to rearrange their component parts from a robotic primary mode into an alternate form, such as vehicles, machinery and weapons. They are ‘ready-for-war machines’. So with this, l wanted to create a look that is sleek, modern, clean and sophisticated to represent the robots. To achieve this, I wanted my design to be in cooperation with voluminous silhouettes and fabric-manipulation techniques which l achieved through quilting, patchwork and painting. Overall, l wanted the design to symbolise the strength and power that we all have once we fully transform into the best version of ourselves,” he explained. 

Also read: This Durban July is going to be ‘out of this world’

Beyond this competition, Kucherera said he dreams of starting his own organisation called ‘Actualizing Wild Goals’ (AWG).

“The purpose of AWG would be to explore African scouting for young creatives in the arts and entertainment industry and give them the platform and opportunities that we all crave for as young creatives,” he said. 

With the top 10 set to be announced on June 14, the young designer said that making it this far has been an achievement for him. 

“I personally feel like it’s an opportunity given to me to show the world what I’m capable of. I’m so grateful for what the Hollywood Foundation is doing for us as young designers as we lack exposure, but this competition gives it to us,” he said. 

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