When the judges announced the Best Range on Show during the recent Fashion Show 2012, Durban University of Technology’s third-year Fashion Design student Daniel Panton could not believe his ears when His name was called out.

From an experiment gone wrong, Panton’s range sure made an impression on the judges who announced him as the overall winner of the competition.

The DUT Fashion Show sees third-year Fashion Design students go head to head to impress the judges as well as to showcase the skills they have gained in their three years of study while at the university.

From a tender age, Panton had always wanted to be a creator which is what set him apart from everyone. His journey began when he was studying Graphic Design. “It was as if my field of design began to choose me opposed to my self-searching for it”, he said.

Panton gained much of his confidence when he made it to the top 10 at the Vodacom Durban July Young Designer competition this year. While he did not win the award, he grew as a designer which gave him courage to do more.

Panton is planning on doing his Btech next year and hopefully gets someone to mentor him into learning more about fashion.

“I am going to keep entering in competitions, creating interesting new designs because the more I create, the more I learn about myself and it’s a part of my growth” said Panton. He said many designers give up their love of design and split their creativity in order to make cold cash. “My inspirations for my design are not other designer’s work but rather how I am powerless to my creativity and how, if I don’t listen to it, my creation is always later criticized”, he said.

Panton aspires to be like South African designer Terrance Bray “for his ability to know what people want and do it in a way that does not compromise who he is as a designer”. He also looks up to Suzaan Heinz “for her ability to create wearable conceptual garments”.

–Nomvula Sikakane

Pictured: Daniel Panton with his winning range at this year’s DUT Fashion Show.