Times Of Swaziland: Mpumalanga Fashion Week begins with roadshow

Mpumalanga Fashion Week begins with roadshow
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 CHARITY SIMELANE on 04/08/2011 00:00:00


MBABANE –The Mpumalanga Fashion Week has begun its roadshow which started at
the Royal Swazi Indaba Room yesterday.
This was where some of our local designers were briefed and told to brainstorm
on ideas for the event which is between August 31 and September 4.
Those present at this briefing included radio and television personality, Penny
Lebyane; chairperson of the Imbokodo Group, Thami Njoko; initiator of the whole
project; South African renowned designer, Simphiwe Mthethwa and local designers
Pam ‘LaPam’ Mkhwanazi and Khulekani Msweli.
Project
The fashion week project is the brainchild of the Imbokodo Group, which is
highly passionate about the development of young talent, the support of
established designers and the growth of their respected brands.
Thami Njoko of Imbokodo Group highlighted how elated he was by the Mpumalanga
Fashion Week branching out to neighbouring countries.
"We are happy about branching out to other neighbouring countries such as
Swaziland and Mozambique where various creatives will be afforded the platform
and liberty to showcase their work.
"We have decided to take advantage of the Mozambique corridor where the three
countries trade freely," he said
He further stated that they have two local designers on-board at the moment who
will showcase their designs, LaPam and Sphalele Magagula.
"We have decided to give them a platform at the fashion week. Unlike the other
fashion weeks, our designers do not have to pay a joining fee but the
prerequisite such as an active website and a profile. We have got a company by
the name of Da Gamma to sponsor the fabric.
"We hope this merger grows into a success where we can have more designers in
Swaziland and Mozambique grow into one big family with South Africans," he
pointed out.