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Chivas Venture returns to nurture SA fashion talent
The Chivas Venture platform, which supports the world's most promising social entrepreneurs, is returning to South Africa with a new format launching in collaboration with streetwear personality and Grade Africa founder Zaid Osman.
From left: Josh Badenhost (Very$orry), Lindiwe Modiselle (Selle), Zaid Osman (Grade Africa), Robyn Agulhas (SinChui) and Sabelo Shabalala (Richmanskyf)
The new platform will see scotch whisky brand Chivas and Osman provide up-and-coming fashion designers with the tools and support needed to produce a nine-piece capsule collection that will be sold via ‘drops’ with exclusive retail partners.
Upskilling local creatives
The production of the collection will provide local African communities with employment opportunities, empowering newly-appointed apprentices to join forces with Chivas and Grade Africa. Collectively they will blend their skills and talents, enabling them to source and manufacture the collection sustainably.
Proceeds from the sales of the collection will be given to the apprentices and donated to the Grade Africa Foundation, whose mission is to eliminate extreme poverty and bring unique opportunities back home to Africa.
Osman founded Grade Africa in 2018 with the hope of bringing African talent to the table and showcasing African pride in the fashion industry. “I only want to be a part of meaningful things and when the Chivas Venture team reached out to me, it was a no-brainer as this is exactly what we as Grade Africa stand for – to empower and upskill local creatives," says Osman.
Collection apprentices
Richmanskyf is a luxury streetwear brand from Durban with a strong focus on minimal yet powerful design. Driven to create timeless work by portraying an aesthetic that is uniquely brand inspired, with inspiration drawn from surroundings, the city and people.
Established in August 2020, Very$orry creates each piece by hand, using a DTG printing method along with unique tying and dying techniques. The designer also uses the highest quality vinyl to weed out by hand for each garment. Very$orry is not limited to one genre as the founder and designer expresses themselves to people through different mediums of art.
SinChui is a South African brand founded by Robyn Agulhas, established as a graduate collection in 2019. It's a streetwear label that conveys stories of everyday life, looking to the future of fashion and innovation. The brand is about pushing boundaries in fashion and collaborating with creatives of all walks of life.
Selle is a streetwear brand founded by Lindiwe Modiselle, a young multi-faceted creative who majored in art direction. Due to her love for thrifting, she suddenly had a growing interest in vintage graphic tees and started a T-shirt line that she creatively directs. The goal for Selle is to not just be a T-shirt line but a fully-fledged streetwear brand that maintains the spirit of creativity and free form.
To date, Chivas says that the global Chivas Venture initiative has given away $6m in funding to 142 social entrepreneurs, who have positively impacted over 3.3 million lives, in more than 65 countries. This includes providing 34 million litres of safe drinking water to communities, recycling 1,300 tonnes of waste, helping over 2,500 farmers’ families out of poverty and funding over 75,000 days of education for women and girls.
Nick Blacknell, global marketing director at Chivas, comments: “We are thrilled to be back for the seventh year of the Chivas Venture, with an updated programme that will see us championing and supporting grassroots action in local communities around the world.
"We are incredibly excited to launch the new format in South Africa with Zaid Osman, a leader in creative culture who has hustled for success. The new format continues to reflect the Chivas DNA by supporting and championing new-wave entrepreneurs, who work tirelessly to elevate themselves and the communities that surround them.”
To find out more about the Chivas Venture and to learn more about the A-Grade collection, visit www.chivas.com/en-ZA/page/chivas-venture-x-zaid-osman.
