The recent Durban University of Technology’s (DUT’s) annual fashion show saw 15 third-year Fashion and Textiles students showcase their work through a fashion film which was filmed over four days in December 2020, at the Playtex warehouse in Mobeni, Durban.
The 2020 panel of judges includes established people from the local and international fashion and design industry. Every year this is kept secret and will be revealed once the judges have reviewed and officially selected the winners in each category in two weeks’ time.
Speaking more on the fashion showing, DUT’s Fashion and Textiles lecturer and organiser of the show, Gideon, said: “The theme of the students’ collections was Kraft’ed. This was for the students to research and fuse a craft they felt culturally close to with a disability. It is important for us all to embrace our heritage and find a new way to present our history as well as have the empathy and humanity for the millions of people that live daily with a disability,” he said.
He further relayed that it was wonderful to see the students’ development with handwork and their understanding of the numerous disabilities in the world and how people live with them.
Gideon elaborated on planning behind the scenes, especially during COVID-19, and how the students and his team worked around it.
“With the theme this year it was possible for the students to do a lot of their handwork remotely and check in with via WhatsApp to see the progress of their work,” he said.
He and his team worked closely to ensure the students patterns were made an easy task and be as close to ‘hands on’ with their strict health guidelines.
“We were extremely hands on with the students’ work. We rotated classes into groups that could work on certain aspects of their collections and what I feel worked the best was our constant sense of positivity and drive that helped our students through this challenging time,” he said.
Gideon explained that there were hurdles and difficulties, and the challenge the students faced were mostly them, fearing the unknown.
“We had to keep them reassured, aware and to feel both safe and enthusiastic at the same time,” he said.
The categories the students will be judged on are for best technical range, most innovative range, best range on show, best menswear range, most commercial range, the Gideon recognition award and the Gideon merit awards are still to be decided.
“We were fortunate enough to be able to work with the internationally acclaimed production company called Lampost and with their vast knowledge of the world of virtual and film in fashion we sat together and created a look and mood for the collections this year. It is easy to say that to work with Jodie Ennik of Lampost and her formidable team has definitely shone our students work in a new light and the fashion film has already garnished incredible praise and response from the South African fashion community .
The 2020 Fashion Show is available for viewing online through the following links:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poyg2nLH-Bc&t=51s
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CJqxLkiJXkN/
Pictured: Models showcasing Normasonto Nkosi’s designs
Waheeda Peters
