MIDRAND, SOUTH AFRICA APRIL 21: Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa during Essie Apparel/The Opportunity Collections Show at the South African Fashion Week Spring/Summer Collections Day 02 at The Mall of Africa on April 21, in Midrand, South Africa.
Oupa Bopape
- Fashion Week Studio creates a platform on a runway show for international designers from across the globe.
- The brand has committed to introducing African couture as luxury alongside international brands.
- Don Design, Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa and Khuli Chana will join designers from Nigeria and Ghana.
Three South African media personalities turned designers will showcase their work at Fashion Week Studio Inc’s upcoming Paris and Milan shows.
Don Design, Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa and Khuli Chana will join designers from Nigeria and Ghana to complete the lineup of this year’s pan-African designers who will showcase their work at the Milan fashion week studio show on 23 and 24 September 2023.
After that, they will jet off to Paris fashion week to participate in a studio show on 27 and 28 September 2023.
Africa to the world
Every season – February or March and September – Fashion Week Studio creates a platform on a runway show for international designers from across the globe to showcase in front of the world’s most prominent fashion editors, fashion buyers, fashion curators, fashion writers and fashion experts.
The brand also hosts the fashion shows in luxury venues in New York City, Milan and Paris.
Fashion Week Studio is renowned for luxury and excellence in staging shows in legendary, historical, and lavish venues.
The studio believes its commitment to quality, professional and effective service defines the brand.
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Show director, founder and owner of Fashion Week Studio Inc, Nathanaelle Hottois Galetlole, says that her brand has committed to introducing African couture as luxury alongside international brands by featuring work from African designers every year.
Previously, Fashion Week Studio has put South African designers Quiteria Atelier & George and Sonwabile Ndamase from Vukani Fashion, famed for the Madiba Shirts, in the spotlight.
Meet the designers
Visionary South African hip-hop creative Don Design (Tshediso Mokoko) is the first of the designers tapped to showcase their work at the Paris and Milan shows this year.
Don Design recently launched a capsule range under his streetwear fashion label Monday.To.Monday.
According to Fashion Week Studio, the designer has re-imagined a new range and has since evolved from his original counter-culture roots into a designer artistic expression.
Don Design is also famed for being one of the slain rapper, AKA’s closest friends.
Showcasing alongside him will be Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa’s Essie Apparel, which launched to great acclaim in 2019.
She last showcased her Spring/Summer collection at South African Fashion Week, and her new collection, made entirely in South Africa, interrupts established ideas about what winter colours and winter wear should be.
In this range, Mlotshwa introduced bold colours and unapologetically unconventional designs for both women and men.
The trio of South African designers will be rounded out by rapper and hip-hop fashion creative Khuli Chana.
Chana has a new clothing deal with the Jeep Apparel South Africa clothing brand and will showcase his new range next season.
Sumaiya Dzietror is the co-owner and creative director of the renowned Ghanaian fashion house Pistis Ghana.
Sumaiya and her husband and co-founder, Kabutey Dzietror, graduated from the Vogue Style School of Fashion and Design.
Pistis is a Ghanaian-based fashion house headquartered in Accra. The company currently stands at the frontline of the fast-growing African fashion industry while making significant strides in international markets.
The final designer on the list is Chidinma Obairi from Nigeria.
Obairi has been well-established in the fashion industry since 2012 and has spent her career building a luxury brand that has unveiled grand style collections.
Fashion Week Studio describes Obairi’s work as “fabulous creations” inspired by contemporary art and luxury, creating a full ambience of glitz and glamour.
According to the designer, “the collection brings couture techniques ready to wear, creating timeless pieces”.
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