AFI Fastrack winners to present collections at Fashion Week

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Danette Breitenbach

Four young South African fashion designers will present their capsule collections in the final phase of this year's African Fashion International (AFI) Fastrack Programme on 1 November, 2014, day four of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Africa (MBFWAfrica) 2014 at Melrose Arch, Joburg.

The AFI Fastrack winners - Jessica Ross, Naazneen Kagee, Rich Mnisi, and Tuelo Nguyuza - were announced earlier this year at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Joburg, where the 10 finalists were pared down to just four winners.

Since then, under the tutelage of leading established South African designers, the four have been hard at work - training in business acumen, merchandising and design techniques in order to create their own commercial capsule collections - in a bid to win AFI Young Designer of the Year 2014.

For MBFWAfrica, the winners will each have to present their own AFI Fastrack Private Autumn/Winter Womens-wear Capsule Collection. Using predetermined colour and trend forecasts, the promising young designers have each been tasked with creating an eight-piece line that is innovative, creative and commercially viable.

Exude sophistication

In addition, the challenging brief demands that they design high-fashion garments that are both affordable and internationally on-trend, which exude sophistication and appeal to a broad target market at the same time.

The young designers' business sense will also be held up to scrutiny as they are each expected to present a one-page marketing plan, line sheet and costing sheet to determine the commercial appeal of their collection.