Third-year student Nqobile Mdletshe worked tirelessly on her Evolution of AmaNdebele in Soweto range hoping to receive the Most Innovative and Best Range on Show awards.
She did not receive any of her coveted awards; in fact, she was not awarded in any of the five categories. Instead, she became the first student to receive a Judges’ Recognition Award in the history of the annual show.
“My award is special because it was created especially for me. The judges could have left it at having the normal five winners but they had to add one more category for me. When my name was announced, I was numb for a while but as soon as it sank in, I was over the moon,” she said.
Mdletshe’s range was inspired by the Ndebele culture. It was centered on the journey of a young Ndebele girl who moves from KwaNdebele to Soweto after the death of her parents. The seven outfits in the range each represent the growth or metamorphosis of this young girl and are indicative of the fact that she still embraces her Ndebele culture regardless of her new surroundings.
Similar to the young girl Mdletshe makes reference to in her range, the designer has also metamorphosed during her period at DUT. She hails from KwaMsane in Mtubatuba, KwaZulu-Natal, where she and her two siblings were raised by their mother. Most people in her town have a pessimistic mentality about life but Mdletshe said she chose to “dream big”.
Even when she was not performing well in her studies during her first year, she persevered until she could finally attain pleasing results. “I have always been the underdog who shines in the end,” she said of herself.
She applied the same principle of perseverance during the process of creating her range too. “I had to go through a lot, both good and bad but my family, friends and God made it possible for me to survive all the challenges; they (challenges) had to happen in order for me to push even harder,” she said.
Speaking of her future plans, the bubbly Mdletshe said she intends to further her studies a year or two after she graduates. She also plans on getting as much experience and mentorship as possible before branching off to fashion journalism. “I’m very passionate about writing and I see myself as a Fashion Editor of a huge magazine,” she said.
The top five winning categories were Most Innovative Range, Most Commercial Range, Best Menswear Range, Best Range on Show and Best Technical Student. Although preparing for this event is an exhausting experience for fashion students, they still work diligently in hope of receiving at least one of the five awards that are presented to outstanding students each year.
This year’s show was themed i-aesthete, a theme designed to get designers to look at their aesthetic to question their idea or appreciation of beauty. The theme was also a play on the digital age we live in and how we receive and process information, and in turn how this affects our aesthetic eye or I. The annual DUT Fashion show is a highly-anticipated event in Durban which not only excites the Durban public but staff and students in the institution’s Department of Fashion and Textiles alike.
The judging panel consisted of experienced individuals namely the Holmes Brothers, a Durban design duo; Sindi Shangase, eThekwini Municipality Business Support Programme Manager who is also in charge of the Durban Fashion Fair; Bianca Warren, DUT graduate who owns two fashion boutiques in Umhlanga and Greg Wallas, DUT graduate and fashion industry expert who supplies many SA fashion chain stores and has been a finalist in the Anglo American Mentor of the Year award for several years. They (judges) faced a tough time as they decided which of the 37 aspirant designers would take the winning spots.
– Naledi Hlefane
Pictured: A ecstatic Nqobile Mdletshe (first from left) on the runway with models in her Evolution of AmaNdebele in Soweto range. Her range was the first to receive a Judges’ Recognition Award in the history of the annual show.
