Cape Town Fashion Week celebrate fifth birthday

25 Jul 2007

Cape Town Fashion Week is celebrating its landmark fifth spring/summer collections at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), 8 – 11 August 2007. The event is to be held for the first time in association with the newly formed Cape Town Fashion Council (CTFC) and with the support of both the Provincial Government of the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town.

Owned and presented by African Fashion International (AFI), Cape Town Fashion Week is a champion of South African fashion, providing a platform to introduce new seasonal collections to buyers, media and the public. Cape Town's long heritage as the centre of SA's fashion industry, combined with a growing international reputation as a unique style destination, is reported to have played a key part in its growth.

“Boost”

“The association with the Cape Town Fashion Council is an important part of the strong growth and evolution of the event. With a leadership that includes some of South Africa's most influential fashion entrepreneurs, experts and designers, the involvement of the organisation will provide a further boost to the event's focus on business development for South African designers,” says Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, chairperson of AFI.

Leading South African designers showing at Cape Town Fashion Week include Gideon, Kluk CGdT, Gavin Rajah, Habits by Jenny Le Roux, Rosenwerth by Gabi Rosenwerth, Maya Prass, Hip Hop by Cheryl Arthur, Port by Craig Port and Fred Eboka, among many others. To add international flavour, Cape Town Fashion Week will also host a guest collection from Julia Dalakian, one of Russia's leading designers, as part of an ongoing exchange with Russian Fashion Week.

Industry conference

The CTFC will host for the first time an industry conference at Cape Town Fashion Week to brainstorm with fashion entrepreneurs what the key issues are facing the industry as a base of a competitiveness programme and seminars developed and offered by the CTFC. The event will also feature, also for the first time, an exhibition space for designs presented during the week and sponsored by the CTFC.

The week will be followed by a sister event, Joburg Fashion Week, held two weeks later, 22 –25 August. This will give designers the flexibility, for the first time, to showcase spring/summer collections in both of South Africa's principal fashion centres.

For further information, go to www.capetownfashionweek.com and www.joburgfashionweek.com.