Elle hosts blog style party next week

Poppy Ntshongwana, from 5FM, will host the Elle Style Reporter 2012 search, in association with BlackBerry and the public is invited to attend at a cost of R180, including food, drinks and a December issue of the magazine.

This one-of-a-kind competition launched in July this year and, in September, the 291 entrants were narrowed down to 18 semi-finalists who fought it out in a second challenge for a place in the finals.

Three more challenges awaited the final seven, who were put through their paces by a judging panel headed by photographer, Ed Suter; editor, Jackie Burger; online editor, Jenna McArthur; director for Channel Marketing Africa at Research In Motion (RIM), Ulanova Visse; and head of retail marketing at RIM, Judy Smith.

The finalists were evaluated on their visual, conceptual and writing skills and their ability to connect with the magazine's philosophy that there is no style without substance.

Finalists

The finalists are:

• Lebogang Tlhako (aka Bubu), the photography graduate who takes her inspiration from the older generation;
  
• Nomanqoba Mthembu, with a keen interest in the beauty of culture;
  
• Trevor Stuurman, the film student whose first love is street style and fashion;
  
• Mlilo Mpondo, the social anthropologist who loves documenting the greatness that lives inside each of us
  
• Phendu Kuta, the maker of edgy hand-made accessories, who can't wait to decipher South Africa's own unique fashion voice
  
• Lee Dumisa, who believes fashion is a universal language that brings people together and allows them to express who they are
  
• Sandisiwe Pityi, the publishing student inspired by all kinds of people and pictures and sometimes by people in pictures

The grand prize is a seven-month contract with the magazine, including a R10,000 monthly stipend and all the BlackBerry resources to perform the role of Style Reporter, including a tablet and a smartphone. Along with enjoying regular exposure in print and on the digital and social media platforms, the winner will also jet off to report on fabulous trends, fresh off the international fashion ramps.