Magazine, retailer partner to nourish local design

At the end of the House and Leisure Green Designers at Woolworths competition, the work of some of the students featured will be selected to go into production and will be available at selected Woolworths stores.

“As a passionately South African retailer Woolworths believes in supporting the local design industry and nurturing a culture of design,” says Paul Duncan, head of design - homeware at Woolworths.

"Woolworths' sponsorship of Design Indaba over the past five years and its educational initiative, Making the Difference through Design, are evidence of this. With House and Leisure we will be increasing our support for local design, giving students the opportunity to make a real contribution to green design in South Africa.”

Lianne Burton, editor of House and Leisure, adds that both House and Leisure and Woolworths (which was recently named Responsible Retailer of the Year at the 2008 World Retail Awards) are dedicated to creating a greener future for everyone in South Africa. “We are all aware of the impact we have on the environment these days and it excites me that we can actually do something about it,” she says. “With Woolworths, we have a green partner to help us not to only develop local design talent, but also to further the ecofriendly agenda in South Africa.”

Eight leaders on the South African design scene will mentor the students through the process of following a specific, ecofriendly brief. The eight design gurus who will assist the students through the process are:

• Graphic designer Bradley Kirshenbaum
  
• Fabric designers Lise Butler and Amanda Haupt
  
• Artist and designer Julia Swanepoel
  
• Clothing designer Amanda Laird Cherry
  
• Fabric designer Tanya Sturgeon
  
• Interior designer Maira Koutsoudakis
  
• Jewellery designer Marchand van Tonder

For more information on the competition, see the latest issue of House and Leisure magazine, on sale now.