SOUTH AFRICAN FASHION WEEK SPRING/SUMMER 2023

Designer: Athenkosi Takuta

Athenkosi Takuta graduated from the University of Johannesburg with a Bachelor of Arts in fashion design in 2022. Whilst completing his studies he interned with the acclaimed designer, Bongiwe Walaza, where he subsequently became an assistant designer. 

Currently based in Kempton Park on the East Rand, Takuta was born and raised in Gqeberha where his love of fashion first began at the early age of eight, when he would cut up his own clothing to make mini collections for his sister’s dolls. 

Label: Artae

Established in 2018, Artae is a genderless and ready-to-wear, contemporary clothing brand with sustainable design practices and exquisite craftsmanship. The brand incorporates couture design elements with tailoring techniques, to achieve a timeless aesthetic with garments for the brave who are prepared to challenge binary norms.

Call 078 325-6579 

Email [email protected]
 

Designer: Cyla Gonsolves

Capetonian Cyla Gonsolves launched her luxury resort and knitwear brand for women in 2017 after being a contestant in the reality series, The Intern by David Tlale. 

Designing from a studio on her farm and assisted by a team in Cape Town, she is passionate about incorporating ethical fashion practise, in particular female empowerment, at every step in her supply chain, to produce her signature elegant, casual clothing with a hand-crafted twist.

Label: Cyla Gonsolves

The award-winning Cyla Gonsolves range includes languid day dresses, cosy knits for effortless layering, and contemporary classic blouses. Each collection is conceived and tailored with impeccable care and attention to detail. 

Call 062 575-4509

Email [email protected]
 

Designer: Kuhle Phumzile Zondo

Kuhle Phumzile Zondo, the design head of E_mania, is a multidisciplinary creative with a B-tech degree in tourism management, a degree in strategic brand communication from VEGA and technical training in garment construction and patternmaking from LISOF.

Label: E_mania

Launched in 2016, the Johannesburg-based brand positions itself as an artistic movement steeped in the desire to reinvent African idioms in a new guise and to draw deeply from the totality of the South African cultural experience.

The E_mania bespoke range expanded to include off-the-rack garments available through various online platforms in 2022.  In the same year, it also launched its 3 R promise where each garment qualifies for a post-sale guarantee to be Repaired, Re-Used and Recycled.

Call 079 715-5681

Email [email protected]

Juanie

Designer: Juanie van Wyk

Juanie van Wyk’s love of creating with fabric, thread and yarn, goes back to the age of five when she was taught to sew, knit and crochet by her mother and grandmother. 

She graduated with distinction in fashion design from LISOF (now STADIO School of Fashion), after completing her N6 diploma in business management and working in various industries, including fashion buying and retail as well as interior design.

Her achievements include winning the coveted Best Designer award for her graduation collection at LISOF, being awarded Best Designer in Bernina SA’s Student Competition and being a finalist in the SAFW Student Competition. She completed internships with both celebrated designers, Suzaan Heyns and JJ Schoeman.

Label: Juanie

Although fascinated by unconventional art and design that inspires innovative experimentation, the Juanie signature offers a wearable and timeless interpretation of classic investment piece with surprising, and ingenious, design detail.

Call 083 313-9376

Email [email protected]

LWAVANT-GARDE

Designer: Lwandle Duma

Duma graduated with a BA degree in fashion design from STADIO School Of Fashion.

Born in 2000, he lost his mother at a young age. This strengthened his resolve to launch his own label to create garments as a testimony to her legacy.

Label: LWavant-Garde

A conceptual, contemporary brand where the emphasis is on exceptional quality with an Avant Garde twist and a commitment to sustainable design techniques as well as the use of mono materials. 

Call:  065 842-3625

Email: [email protected]

Oyamagonintebe 

Designer: Oyama Gonintebe

Oyama Gonintebe graduated from Cape Town College of Fashion Design with a National Diploma in fashion design where she received the award for Best Print Development. She launched her own signature in 2021 after completing an internship with Cape Town-based label, Ealahn. 

In 2022 she won both the Mr Price Creative Collab and advanced to the semi-finals in the Allfashion Sourcing Young Designer Competition. 

Label: Oyamagonintebe

Bold colours and unique print design inspired by Africa’s diverse cultures, are the hallmarks of this ready-to-wear range. 

Call 073 618-5585

Email [email protected]

Silika

Designer: Mmathabo Silika

Mmathabo Silika completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in fashion design at STADIO School Of Fashion in 2020. She launched her eponymous label in the same year. 

She gained widespread experience in the fashion industry working for brands such as Plus-Fab, Arator and Steve Madden, whilst simultaneously growing her label.

Silka was a finalist in both the Young Designers and the Redbat Posse competitions in 2022 and her distinctive signature was featured in Dela Jouere Fashion Magazine as well as showcased at the South African Menswear Week AW 23. 

Label: Silika

African-inspired contemporary luxury wear.

Call 063 075-5945

Email [email protected]

Silver Magpie

Designer: Caileigh Jayne Davis

Caileigh Jayne Davis received an undergraduate degree in fashion design and an honours degree in fashion theory from LISOF. She also has a diploma in make-up and a certificate in graphic design from the University of Cape Town

She got her first taste of the transformative magic of fashion whilst playing dress-up in her mother and grandmother’s wardrobes as a little girl. Here she could become anything she wanted to be with the flick of a scarf or a twist of beads. Silver Magpie, her clothing label, came into being in 2018 inspired by the idea that people can be empowered through dress. 

Label: Silver Magpie

Silver Magpie is a ready-to-wear line committed to the Slow Fashion ethos. It therefore incorporates Slow Fashion and Circular Economy principles like inclusive sizing and the usage of sustainable fabrics.

Call 073 217-5490

Email [email protected]

Messrsbasswood

Designer: Sifiso Kunene

Sifiso Kunene is an artist and fashion designer from Nkandla in Kwazulu-Natal.  Currently the chief creative director, founder and men's artistic director at Messrsbasswood, he holds a diploma in fashion design. He did a year-long internship with a bespoke tailoring house in Durban. 

His own art practice is inspired by ground-break designers Ozwald Boateng, Samuel Ross of luxury menswear brand A-COLD-WALL and the late Virgil Abloh.

Kunene's first body of work was presented at Design Indaba in 2017.

Label: Messrsbasswood

Launched in 2016, Messrsbasswood is a menswear label with a deep appreciation for streetwear culture and its capacity to articulate contemporary youth culture.

Collections are embedded with a recurrent back story which emphasises individuality and expressive design, underpinned by the practise and craftsmanship of bespoke tailoring.

Call 076 954-0292

[email protected]
 

Munkus 

Designer: Thando Ntuli

Thando Ntuli launched her Munkus label in 2019 with storytelling as her creative device to create garments that allow women to express their most colourful, and loud selves. 

The Soweto-born creative’s achievements include winning the Most Fashionable Commercial Range award from Truworths in 2019, being recognized as the All Sourcing Designer of the Year in 2021 and receiving the Emerging Creative of the Year awards from both Design Indaba and Glamour Magazine as well as winning the SA Fashion Week New Talent search, in 2022. In 2023 she was selected to showcase in Paris. 

Ntuli has shown collections on multiple platforms, including South African and Lagos Fashion Weeks, and her work has featured extensively in publications such as Sunday Times, S mag, News24, Business of Fashion, and Glamour Magazine.

Label: Munkus

Derived from Thando’s pet name at home, the trans-seasonal Munkus brand has strong 1980’s and 1990’s influences that draw deeply from fashion on the streets of Soweto, and townships like Gugulethu.  Combining bold colour and print with intergenerational, retro-inspired silhouettes, garments are simple yet versatile, often designed to be layered and worn in multiple ways.

Ntuli describes her current collection titled Isikhathi/Time, as a personal journey of self-discovery where she wanted to create a narrative that would connect with those who feel disconnected from their past. 

“I approached it from the perspective of a child - curious, open-minded, and unburdened by preconceived notions or limitations and using a playful take on a kids' colouring books to create an entertaining and meaningful visual story. The application of patterns and colours was intentional as they mirror a child's perspective and imagination. Each piece was designed     to evoke a different emotion or memory from my own childhood.”

Call 071 745 6562

Email [email protected]

Fikile Sokhulu

Designer: Fikile Sokhulu

Durban-based Fikile Sokhulu launched and presented his eponymous label, Fikile Sokhulu, as part of the South African Fashion Week’s New Talent show in 2018 and after graduating from the Durban University of Technology with a National Diploma in fashion design.

Label: Fikile Sokhulu

A natural, feminine aesthetic is the hallmark of this label. Each garment is conceptualised to tell a story that will appeal to both the girl who is finding herself as well as the woman with an evolving and defined identity.

Call 072 506 1099

Email [email protected]

Sipho Mbuso

Designer: Sipho Mbuto

Durban-based Sipho Mbuto studied fashion design at the Durban University of Technology.

Label: Sipho Mbuto

The eponymous Sipho Mbuto label explores the blurring of gender definition, the beauty of the feminine in family and the sense of belonging through Ubuntu. 

Deeply committed to a sustainable fashion ethos, garments are only made-to-order to avoid overproduction and in a range of natural fabrics such as linens, silks, and cottons. These fabrics are sourced exclusively from African producers in Burkina Faso who can testify to the provenance of the raw material and with whom the studio has established long-term relationships of trust.  All production is done in small and family-owned local workshops that adhere to fair labour practice.

The signature’s timeless androgyny is inspired by art and architecture as well as random discovery. A-line silhouettes are embellished with cross sectioned lines and minimalist cuts with surprising creative elements result in a comfortable, natural, and long-lasting aesthetic that transitions effortlessly from day to evening. 

Call 071 753 9334

Email [email protected]

Michael Ludwig Studio

Designer: Michael Ludwig Hittinger

Michael Ludwig Hittinger graduated from LISOF with a Bachelor of Art in fashion design and buying in 2017. He worked in the fashion industry for three years as a buyer, pattern maker and designer before launching his namesake Michael Ludwig Studio brand.
Hittinger was a finalist in the South African Fashion Week New Talent Search in 2021 and the label  was shown at the Sakura Collection in New York in 2022.

 

Label: Michael Ludwig Studio

Michael Ludwig Studio is a ready-to-wear and Slow Fashion-motivated brand with a gender-fluid and African-meets-Eastern aesthetic that emphasises the flow, drape and fit of garments. The Cape Town-based signature creates pieces that incorporate the masculine, feminine or a spectrum between the two and allow the end user to decide how they will be used regardless of body shape or gender expression. The brand has received extensive local and international media coverage including in SARIE magazine October 2021, Glamour Fashion Online October 2022, True Love Magazine November 2022 and Vogue Portugal.

Available from:
-     Convoy (Melville, Johannesburg)
-     Africa Rise (Sandton, Johannesburg)
-     Lilly & Handsom (Kenton, Eastern Cape)
Online: 

• Micaelludwigstudio.com

• Equilibrio.com

Call:     072 778 8723

Email:     [email protected]

Designer: Thula Sindi

Johannesburg-based since 2005, Thula Sindi, was born and raised in Klerksdorp, in Northwest province. Here he discovered his interest in fine art at a young age and chose to settle on fashion as his preferred medium because of the freedom it allowed him to mix colours, concepts, and proportions. He began his fashion career as head designer for the Dutch textile company, Vlisco, after completing his schooling at the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg and degree in fashion design at the London International School of Fashion (LISOF). He launched his eponymous label at South African Fashion Week in 2006. 

Sindi was named SA Tourism Designer of the Year for 2012, and made Forbes magazine’s list of Africa’s thirty best young entrepreneurs in 2013 

Label: Thula Sindi

A sophisticated ready-to-wear signature with a distinctively modern and timeless aesthetic. In Sindi’s words “aimed at a woman of consequence.” 

Call 082 847 6137

Email [email protected]

Designer: Palesa Mokubung

Mokubung holds a Bachelor of Arts in fashion design and is known for creating her own unique prints and textiles. Her accolades as a designer include being named “the African trend dictator” by influential women’s magazine, True Love, in 2019, as well as receiving the Carol Bouwer Mbokodo award for her outstanding and valuable contribution in the field of Arts and Culture in South Africa. 

Label: Mantsho

Established in 2004, Mantsho was the first African signature to collaborate with international fashion retailer, H&M, to produce the Mantsho x H&M collection which was sold at the retailer’s flagship and online stores worldwide.

A fine balance between form and function, the distinctive bespoke Mantsho garments, silhouettes, prints and textiles, are inspired by globalised African nomads who remain reverent of their own unique culture.

Call 071 881 4828

Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

LUNAR is a South African eco-fashion and lifestyle brand that have firmly established themselves as one of the country's leading design labels over the past 25 years. Creating understated, sophisticated clothing using only the finest, most sustainable natural fabrics.

Drawing inspiration from nature and the African landscape LUNAR crafts clothing to be as natural as possible, both in fabrication and in design. Perhaps because of this close affinity to nature we are intimately aware of the effects of our actions and always strive to lessen our  impact and focus on 3 core priorities: best for you, best for our community and best for the earth.  

WhatsApp +27 (0)64 002 1449

Email [email protected]

OPPO COLLECTIONS

ESSIE 

Designer

Multi-talented actress, designer, and TV host, Enhle Mbali, debuted her Essie Apparel label at SA Fashion Week in 2020. In the same year she collected her first international award for best designer collection at the Fashion Community Week, in San Francisco, United States as well as being featured in the January 2020 edition of Vogue Italia. 

Label: Essie Apparel

The dazzling fashion-forward fusion signature that uses sculptural detail and the clever use of colour application, was launched in 2019.

Call 072 315 9419

Email [email protected]

RUBICON

Designer: Hangwani Nengovhela 

Hangwani Nengovhela has qualifications in textile and clothing techniques from the Minijiang University in China. Her business acumen is the result of growing up in a family that valued entrepreneurship, as well through her stint in the advertising industry.

Label: Rubicon

Established in 2002, the Rubicon brand is known for producing iconic collections marked by impeccable and timeless design and tailored craftsmanship. 

Call 27 11 781 8962 

Email: info@rubiconclothing.

BLACK COFFEE

Designer: Jacques van der Watt

A renowned pioneer of the South African fashion industry, Van der Watt was one of the initial designers who collaborated with the inaugural SA Fashion Week in 1999 to position fashion as an art form locally.

He has been nominated five times for the SA Fashion Awards and won twice (2001 and 2007). In 2009 he received the Mercedes-Benz Art Award for a collection referencing the distinctive red hues used by Himba people of northern Namibia. The collection was shown at the renowned Daimler contemporary gallery in Berlin. In 2010 he won the African Fashion International Best Designer award.

Van der Watt won the SA Fashion Week Cape Wools Designer Challenge in 2017, and exhibited an outfit embellished by a crafter from Katlehong at the Commonwealth Fashion Council Exhibition in London in 2018. Van der Watt’s label, Black Coffee was featured in the exhibition, 21 YEARS: Making Histories with South African Fashion Week in 2019 at Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town.

Label: Black Coffee

The iconic Black Coffee label with its name inspired by late nights, hard work, and the 1948 Sarah Vaughan classic, debuted at SA Fashion Week in 1999. The label is distinctive for the way it blurs fabrication and fashion. The sharp structural designs are characterised by complex, layered shapes that yield a fastidious fashion sensibility that is at once restrained and bold. Complex geometries are explored, often melding the body with the pattern in a meticulous feat of engineering. It renders fabric in relief, its carved features projected from the surface, marking the body so that skin is brought to prominence and embossed with fabric. Despite its exact geometry, the signature always remains subdued with utterly feminine traits like fine pleating and intricate ribbon trimmings so that garments can seamlessly move from workwear to eveningwear. Van der Watt is a master of discreet style. He refines craft, embellishing on traditions like millinery and applique and echoing African motifs, always with a modern verve. 

www.blackcoffee.co.za/shop

Call 011 482 9148/ 076 686 9760

Email [email protected]

Federico Cina was born in Sarsina, in a small village of

just 3000 inhabitants, in the heart of Romagna in the

province of Forli-Cesena.

FEDERICO CINA is a brand founded in 2019 whose

main ambition is to bring refined and elegant looks to the

catwalk that describe the romantic essence of the history

and culture of Romagna.

Craftsmanship, Sustainability and Humanity.

Deep references to the young designer’s land of origin

emerge within the collections: the history and culture of

Romagna make the brand’s aesthetic unique, thanks to

a continuous dialogue between generations of the past

and generations of the present. The spirit of the brand is

constantly enveloped in a nostalgic and sentimental

atmosphere: a profound sensitivity aimed at enhancing

the handcrafted aspect, reinterpreting the traditional

male silhouette through a new concept of elegance.

“Being sustainable, for us, means supporting the Romagna

ecosystem - explains Federico - creating well-being and

opportunities for businesses, artisans and people of our

land.”

“We are convinced that Romagna, which has given us

so much inspiration and values, should benefit from our

results and be fully involved in the brand development

process. To do this, we have decided to keep our

headquarters in Romagna, where we produce our

garments with local fabrics. This - concludes the Designer

- guarantees us to maintain a high standard of quality,

while at the same time supporting the local artisans and

guaranteeing them greater well-being.”

VIVIERS STUDIO

VIVIERS, a conceptual South African, clothing brand, will present its sustainable, yarn-focused  collection, 'Karroo, Land of Thirst," within the South Africa Fashion Week's, official calendar.

In proud partnership with Mohair SA and Cape Wools, VIVIERS aims to showcase the diversity of South African raw materials like wool, mohair and Ostrich by-products.

The vision of the brand is to bridge communities that see themselves as mutually exclusive, by creating a manifesto where narratives meet in the raw form of the arts.

VIVIERS facilitates an umbrella-like platform, where through the arts, for artisanal collaboration and architecture, creatives can challenge institutional norms through clothing and the making thereof.

VIVIERS focuses on a sensual experience. Established in paradoxes; the boyish/ girlishness of the collections' pieces could be both sophisticated, yet simultaneously rebellious, hard yet soft, and sculpturally organic yet synthetic. 

The garments are constructed from rare and unusual textiles that make up seamlessly imperfect garments, that Lezanne strives to cut to perfection.

Research Unit

Designers: Erin-Lee and Chad Petersen

The multiple-award-winning couple raised the capital to launch their design business by selling an iPhone 4 they received with a 24-month cellular contract when they were unable to obtain a formal loan. 

They remain committed to their founding mission to develop well-designed, innovative, and high-quality products in a sustainable and low-tech way so that manufacture can be done by people from previously under-resourced circumstances.  

Label: Research Unit 

Research Unit is a self-described “utilitarian” brand of men’s-, women’s and childrenswear as well as accessories, produced in small batches and in the age-old traditions of Japanese craftsmanship, that encourage the principle that fewer products, made better, can be treasured for a long time.

Call 076 414 6477

Email [email protected] or [email protected]

Isabel de Villiers Clothing

Designer: Isabel de Villiers

Pretoria-based De Villiers graduated from Tshwane University of Technology and worked in the fashion industry for several year before launching her namesake brand, Isabel de Villiers Clothing.

She regards her signature as a reflection of the many shapes and sizes women assume during their lives designing pieces that are easy-to-wear, flattering, well-fitting and last a lifetime. She is fascinated by colour therapy and how colour reflects the psyche. 

Label: Isabel de Villiers Clothing

Launched in 2012, Isabel de Villiers Clothing is a size-inclusive womenswear label with a modern and effortless design aesthetic and a strong focus on silhouettes and colour. Her signature’s laser cut pieces and the concept of “all shapes, all sizes”, are the hallmarks of the signature.

The SS24 collection explores the depth of friendships, connection, and unity. As one half of a twin, she has drawn this season’s inspiration from the human need to connect and identity and how this is expressed in our relationships.

https://isabeldevilliers.com/

Call: 0844418222

654 Duiwelskloof street, Faerie Glen, Pretoria, 0081

Belhauzen

Designer: Belinda Venter

Founder, stylist and creative designer, Belinda Venter, grew up in the southern suburbs of Gauteng province in South Africa and moved to Cape Town after graduating. Raised in the countryside and spending most of her time surrounded by nature and animals, she wanted to create a brand that reflects a slower pace and process, where garments are made with care and detail, where the environment is more important than trend and where there is a purpose to every piece. In 2021 Venter launched both her sustainable luxury fashion house, situated in the heart of Cape Town, and showed her first collection at South African Fashion Week.

Brand: Belhauzen

The brand reflects Venter’s vision of sustainable luxury with a conscious or “honest luxury” creating timeless, modern, and elegant pieces made from natural and recycled fabrics. All garments are crafted in-house by Venter and her small team of skilled artisans. 

The label is committed to producing powerful, modern collections without compromising its ethics and key values, taking into consideration where materials come from and by whom they are made.

Key brand highlights include being featured on the Showmax series Troukoors in 2021, being invited to attend international trade show, FILO, in Milan in 2022 and designing and styling artists for various local TV and film productions. The label launches its sustainable bridal and couture collection in the near future.

Stockists include: 

The Modelist - www.themodelist.co.za

Manjefiek - www.manjefiek.co.za

Nina J Couture - www.ninaj-couture.com

Calyx Boutique - www.calyxboutique.co.za

Slate Boutique – www.slateboutique.co.za 

Plain Tiger - www.plaintiger.co.za

Shop Arum - www.shoparum.com 

Call 067 220 7818

Email [email protected]

The Bam Collective

Designer: Jacques Bam

Creative Director, Jacques Bam, has been designing since the age of nine. 

He completed a Bachelor of Arts, as well as an Honours degree, respectively in 2017 and 2018, both Summa Cum Laude, at LISOF (now STADIO School of Fashion) and interned in styling and costume design for Ky Boshoff and Pierre Viennings. 

As the winner of the SA Fashion Week student competition, he received business mentorship from top South African design houses, ERRE and Isabel de Villiers, before launching his brand as a finalist in the SA Fashion Week New Talent Search. 

The brand: The Bam Collective

Inspired by the liveliness of the South Africans with whom it associates, and the emotional connection one has to one’s clothes, the Bam Collective defines itself as “a spirited approach to South African luxury.” 

All products are made to order from a small studio in Centurion, focusing on graphic prints, bold colours, striking silhouettes and experimental details, that explore the commercial and conceptual boundaries of clothing. 

The signature’s many accolades include:

• Working with Ford South Africa on their Ka Mzolo music video campaign in 2018

• Creating a capsule range for South African retailer, MRP, in 2019

• Being selected to form part of the South African/Italian Fashion Bridges - I Ponti Della Moda project in 2021 where the brand showcased a collaborative capsule collection with Florence-based Julian Cerro at Milan Fashion Week. 

• Receiving a mentorship from Balenciaga and a business training course with HEC, as well as the opportunity to showcase at Paris Fashion Week in September 2023, after winning the 2022 edition of the Africa Fashion UP programme under Share Africa based on a collection showcased at Paris Fashion Week. 

Call 072 118 4332

Email [email protected]

Boyde

Designer:

Samkelo Boyde Xaba, a Johannesburg-based fashion and multi-disciplinary creative who graduated from Tshwane University of Technology with a degree in fashion and design technology.

Label:

Boyde is a South African contemporary luxury clothing brand launched in 2017.

It draws inspiration from geometric modernism, industrial and African architecture and the aesthetics of a pared-down minimalism of exceptional quality and comfort, in line with a sustainable fashion ethos of timeless style. Garments are ethically produced with environmentally-friendly processes and locally sourced textiles.

Call 074 043 9822

Email [email protected]/ [email protected]

Gugubygugu

Designer:

Gugu Peteni graduated in 2017 with a Cum Laude Honours degree in fashion and textile design from the Nelson Mandela university. She spent three years as in-house designer and retail manager for Mohair SA, during which time she launched her Gugubygugu menswear label.

Her achievements include:

• Inclusion in the Design Indaba Top 40 emerging South African creatives of 2018 

• The youngest of the 12 contestants on the first season of Project Runway South Africa

• Finalist in the 2020 and 2022 SA Fashion Week’s Scouting Menswear competition

Label:

Gugubygugu is a gender neutral and Afri-modern streetwear brand based in Gqeberha, South Africa.  Established in 2019, it describes itself as the epitome of its generation - unapologetic, bold and genderless - creating garments that can be worn by any age, size or gender and using colour and natural fibres such as mohair. 

Call 084 258 0865

Email [email protected]

Refuse Clothing Brand

Designers:

Malcolm Mokgope and Minenhle Memela 

Label: Refuse Clothing Brand

Established in 2016, the South African men’s streetwear brand, fuses African aesthetics with modern inclination using inter alia, conventional Nguni textures as well as bold, all-over prints for both its ready-to-wear and custom-made garments. 

Call 067 264 2072

Email [email protected]/ [email protected]/[email protected]

Foy Bear

Designer: Kagiso Matlaisane

Founder and creative director, Malaisane, graduated in fashion design from the University of Johannesburg and obtained a Btech qualification from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Whilst studying she had the opportunity to demonstrate her talent by designing a cocktail dress for a finalist in the 2017 Miss South Africa contest. Another accolade was her fourth-year collection, which was the focus of a fashion film nominated at the Bokeh fashion film festival. 

She interned as a buyer at The Foschini Group for Markham and Sportscene, before launching her label in 2022 and becoming a finalist in the SAFW’s Scouting Menswear competition.

Brand: Foy Bear

Foy Bear is a gritty fusion of streetwear and sports lux. It is centred around the idea of transformative sustainability where garments may have multiple looks that give the wearer more value and longevity without compromising on aesthetics. 

Call 071 348 3339

Email [email protected]

 

Fuata Moya

Designers/Owner: 

Jointly owned by siblings, Kabambi, Martine, Lucienn and Tshimaro Mbiola, Fuata Moyo is brand and production company combining art and fashion to create unique pieces with personality. 

Label: Fuata Moya

Fuata Moyo is a Swahili phrase meaning “to follow your heART”. The brand tells the story of an African family’s heritage, legacy, and journey through art. It is also the story of losing a father at a young age and the loss, sacrifice, survival and resilience that follows in the wake of such sadness. 

The label offers a suite of items including fashion, accessories, and art, as well as the customization of jackets, sneakers, or any other items a client may require. Collections are designed in capsules, in collaboration with local brands and designers, as well as with an in-house team.

Fuata Moyo subscribes to a circular economic approach, which is reflected in its use of recycled and upcycled garments and material

Call 081424 2930

Email [email protected]/ [email protected]

Artclub and Friends 

Designer/Owners: 

Created by Robyn Keyser in November 2016, Artclub and Friends is an informal yet consistent collective, which allows for artistic collaborations to take shape in an organic and authentic way. Fully youth and women-owned, it is energised by creating high-quality, locally-made garments that inspire. 

Label: Artclub and Friends

Artclub and Friends is an independent unisex brand, by artists/ for artists, made in Cape Town, South Africa. It was founded in 2016 with sustainability as its DNA. Collaborations have included various artists such as Lunga Ntila and Ricky Rick and capsule collections have been produced for Shelflife Store, Human by Nature, Orphan Street Clothing Store and FNB Art Fair. 

2023 will see another trans-seasonal collection that speaks to the bravery and vulnerability involved in being an artist. 

Call 076 483 7908

Email [email protected]

Helon Melon

Designer: Helen Gibbs

Label: Helon Melon

Clean and uncluttered, the Helon Melon signature is quintessentially season-less and earth-friendly.

Call:083 450 7770

Email: [email protected]; 

EPHYMOL

Designer:  Ephraim Molingoana

Ephraim Molingoana started his label, Ephymol, in 2002, following a career as a stylist and model.

Label: Ephymol

The iconic menswear signature is distinguished by its careful consideration, exceptional fabric, and attention to tailoring detail.

Call 083 746 6323

Email: [email protected]

Sun Goddess

Designer: Vanya Mangaliso

Label: Sun Goddess

Sun Goddess is a luxury fashion and lifestyle brand that designs quintessential South African clothing and accessories. The celebrated brand was founded in 2001 and rooted in heritage stories that celebrate a regal Africa, as highlighted in the rare signature handiwork, fabrics and unique palettes that define African luxury. Sun Goddess also offers other exclusive luxury goods such as fragrances, handcrafted bags, leather goods, eyewear, signature textiles, footwear and hats.

The brand has received more than fifty awards locally and internationally. A key accolade was inclusion of a Sun Goddess dress representing the only designer brand outside of Europe and the USA, in the 2006 Pantone Colour of the Century Book’s top twenty colours. 

www.sungoddessonline.co.za 

Tel: 084 587 6619 and 062 979 3202

Mozambique Fashion Week

Designer: Claudio “Chibaia” Lobo

Founder and head designer of Maputo-based, Chibaia Clothing Company, Lobo has a strong background in graphic design, motion graphics, photography and video editing. He is passionate about concept-driven design which he considers as a form of cultural communication. 

“I use fashion to tell a different narrative about my country, its people and how they can be experienced. My design is mainly made up of my cultural views, aspirations, aesthetics and heritage  - all expressed in an East African context”.

Label: Chibaia Clothing Company 

The label offers streetwear using distinctively patterned Mozambiquan Capulana textiles with bomber jackets and African-print hoodies as hallmarks.

Designer: Benoca Alfredo Malinga

An IT engineering graduate, Maputo-born Malinga is the granddaughter of a seamstress, who allowed her to live in the world of fashion since birth. In 2020 she won the title of Best Young Designer at Mozambique Fashion Week. 

Label: Mabenna 

Launched in 2017, the brand name is based on the nickname given to Malinga by her maternal grandmother. 

Malinga uses French writer, Victor Hugo’s, insight that “all that is beautiful, manifests the true” as the guiding principle of her approach to design.

C Ú C C L A M I T H Á

Designer: 

Cuccla Mithá graduated top of her class in fashion design and modelling at Magestil-Lisbon Fashion School before returning to Mozambique to launch her eponymous C.U.C.C.L.A  label in 2020.

Label:

C.U.C.C.L.A is a ready-to-wear casual signature produced in Mozambique. It first debuted at Mozambique Fashion Week in 2021.