Elle searches for a rising star

If you are Africa's most talented young fashion designer, Elle, Mr Price and Africa Fashion International (AFI) will help you kick-start your career! All finalists for the 2015 Elle Rising Star Design Award in association with MRP will have the opportunity to work in collaboration with MRP to launch their own range. They will also benefit from a mentoring programme, including business coaching with a reputable institution and receive exposure in Elle magazine, which will assist them in the competitive world of fashion design. The sky's the limit for the designer chosen as this year's rising star.

To help the rising stars, MRP will contribute R10,000 to each of the eight finalists towards development of their ranges to be shown on 7 November at the 2015 Elle Rising Star Design Award during the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Joburg.

These ranges will also be showcased in an Elle SA fashion story, giving the finalists even greater opportunity to be talent spotted.

The prizes

Up for grabs in this year's competition is a stunning prize package including:

• R30,000 cash prize from MRP to launch the rising star's fashion career;
  
• The opportunity to show a range at the 2015 Elle Rising Star Design Award, plus R10,000 from MRP towards the costs of creating this range;
  
• Two weeks' mentorship at the MRP head office in Durban for a hands-on experience of fashion's retail cycle, from trend forecasting to merchandising;
  
• The opportunity to redesign a predetermined range in collaboration with MRP to be sold in selected MRP stores;
  
• Two weeks' mentorship at the Elle Cape Town office, studying what makes great fashion editorial with Elle editor Emilie Gambade and her fashion team;
  
• A business course with a respected institution to help the rising star to fine-tune a business plan and learn how to tackle the business of fashion;

• A feature in Elle and a year's subscription to the magazine.

You're eligible to enter for this award if you're a final-year fashion student or a fashion graduate with less than three years' experience, but not working for a South African or African fashion retailer.

"In the highly competitive world of fashion, you need more than great talent to succeed," says Joanne Frédéric, Trend Director of MRP and a member of the judging panel. "We have carefully constructed a prize package equipping our next rising star with the tools to go on to win big in African and global fashion markets. By practically being involved in all aspects of developing a range for retail, the winner learns hands-on the reality of taking a collection from conception, to production as well as marketing it to the MRP customer. Previous Rising Star winners have gained invaluable experience through the mentorship programme, which has seen many of them experience great success in their careers."

"The bar was set high with our one of our first-ever Rising Star winner, David Tlale, who went on to take events such as New York Fashion Week by storm, said Wertheim Aymés. "We welcome entries from all over the continent and look forward to a wide variety of fashion visions from young designers with talent and determination, who feel the pulse of Africa pounding in their veins."

Entries are open until 31 July, 2015, and the eight finalists will be named on 7 August. The winner will be announced on 7 November at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Joburg.

To stand a chance of being the winner, go to: www.elle.co.za/elle-rising-star-3

Official hashtag: #ELLERisingStar