Friday, 5 October 2012, saw the end of the 2012 Annual DUT Fashion Show,
a three-day fashion affair that united and appeased apparel fanatics without fail.
Models took to the ramps yet again, now showcasing the best 21 collections of the Department of Fashion and Textiles’ class of 2012. The finale also afforded the budding designers their final opportunity to impress the judges and ultimately win the awards of the evening.
The pressure was mounting as virtually every range got an audience’s applause. But, the fate of the students was now in the hands of the judges, who were expecting innovative, commercially viable and well executed designs.
DUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Ahmed Bawa, who attended the finale, said the judges had their work cut out for them.
Winners
The Most Commercial Range went to Collette Hertz’s aviation-inspired collection and the Best Technical Range went to Kylie Falkard. The Best Menswear Range was taken by Patrick Sosibo while Jeandre Venter won for the Most Innovative Range. The highly coveted award of the evening was scooped by Daniel Panton for the Best Range On Show.
Daniel Panton said his range was “an experiment that went awry”, thus he was utterly surprised to win this award. “I didn’t expect to win anything at all. I battled with sewing so much,” he said. But the young designer was eventually chuffed.
The designer with the most innovative range, Jeandre Venter, was also amazed to win his award. ‘I was just sitting there not expecting anything to happen and then my name was mentioned,” he laughed.
His futuristic range, entitled “Astrotheological Hybrid”, is aimed at a younger, experimental and fashion-forward market. Some of its attire included bell-bottom pants, leather shorts, navy blue tights worn with gold accessories and platform shoes. The t-shirts sported astronomical prints which were designed by Venter.
The event was also attended by DUT Corporate Affairs Senior Director Alan Khan as well as George Foster, the former Head of the Fashion and Textiles Department at DUT to whom the Department also bid farewell during the evening.
Acting Head of the Fashion and Textiles Department Sunthra Moodley said the students worked tirelessly for months to meet and execute the design brief, adding that this was a time well-spent as the students’ designs were presented with style and creativity.
“This (show) is a celebration of excellence and this excellence comes from an enormous partnership (between lecturers and students) that spans across the years,” Prof Bawa said.
– Naledi Hlefane
Caption: Daniel Panton’s range, “Anatomy of my creativity”, did not go as planned but it still earned him an award for the Best Range on Show. pictured is an outfit from the collection.
