Unemployed youth in the Amathole district with a passion for fashion can apply for a life-changing opportunity with the South African Fashion Designers Agency (Safda).
The agency was founded by fashion guru Sonwabile Ndamase who addressed a media briefing in East London yesterday attended by cooperative government traditional affairs head of department Bea Hackula.
He said 125 aspiring fashionistas in the region now had the opportunity to further their skills as a result of a joint venture between Fibre Processing and Manufacturing Sector Education and Training Authority (FPMSeta).
The 12-month learnership aimed to groom young people to become specialists in the fashion industry and empower them with marketing skills, giving them the platform to exhibit their designs on a broader platform.
Hackula said the government welcomed investment in the province.
“Empowering communities with their respective municipalities and their twinning agreements develops individuals and curbs migration, and develops the true heritage of this place we call the Home of Legends.”
Ndamase, who designed clothing for late president Nelson Mandela, and gained popularity for his Madiba Shirt as a result, said the biggest challenge in the industry was the influence of the Eurocentric concepts of design and minimal appreciation for Afrocentric concepts and local designers.
“Having been born in Libode, lived in East London before developing in Johannesburg, for me it felt necessary to have a programme like this to plough back into my community, creating opportunities for crafters and designers.”
Ndamase said the project encouraged learners to become self-sustainable, and he hoped the learnership could spread out across the province. “Although the project is being launched in the Amathole district, as it develops it will grow to other areas.”
He said 25 learners had already been identified from Vukuhambe Special School in Mdantsane where they were undergoing a garment-making programme – but the hunt was on for 125 more. “When people think fashion, they think glitz and glam and imagine the runway and they forget about the core of the industry, which is preserving our own heritage which is something that has not been well supported, even by our own government.
“We want to produce specialists as it is important to develop skills in one thing. Being a specialist improves the quality of the work one does,” he said.
Unemployed South African students should e-mail copies of their identity documents and qualifications requesting application forms to sonwabile@vukanifashions.com before February 2016 for further correspondence.
Door open for local fashionistas
The agency was founded by fashion guru Sonwabile Ndamase who addressed a media briefing in East London yesterday attended by cooperative government traditional affairs head of department Bea Hackula.
He said 125 aspiring fashionistas in the region now had the opportunity to further their skills as a result of a joint venture between Fibre Processing and Manufacturing Sector Education and Training Authority (FPMSeta).
The 12-month learnership aimed to groom young people to become specialists in the fashion industry and empower them with marketing skills, giving them the platform to exhibit their designs on a broader platform.
Hackula said the government welcomed investment in the province.
“Empowering communities with their respective municipalities and their twinning agreements develops individuals and curbs migration, and develops the true heritage of this place we call the Home of Legends.”
Ndamase, who designed clothing for late president Nelson Mandela, and gained popularity for his Madiba Shirt as a result, said the biggest challenge in the industry was the influence of the Eurocentric concepts of design and minimal appreciation for Afrocentric concepts and local designers.
“Having been born in Libode, lived in East London before developing in Johannesburg, for me it felt necessary to have a programme like this to plough back into my community, creating opportunities for crafters and designers.”
Ndamase said the project encouraged learners to become self-sustainable, and he hoped the learnership could spread out across the province. “Although the project is being launched in the Amathole district, as it develops it will grow to other areas.”
He said 25 learners had already been identified from Vukuhambe Special School in Mdantsane where they were undergoing a garment-making programme – but the hunt was on for 125 more. “When people think fashion, they think glitz and glam and imagine the runway and they forget about the core of the industry, which is preserving our own heritage which is something that has not been well supported, even by our own government.
“We want to produce specialists as it is important to develop skills in one thing. Being a specialist improves the quality of the work one does,” he said.
Unemployed South African students should e-mail copies of their identity documents and qualifications requesting application forms to sonwabile@vukanifashions.com before February 2016 for further correspondence.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos