Fashion forward: discover the designers set to shine at the 2025 Hollywoodbets Durban July
Image: Sean Laurenz.
As the Hollywoodbets Durban July approaches, nine talented designers will take centre stage to showcase their unique collections for the Durban Fashion Fair Rising Star Collection.
This event stands out as one of the most thrilling initiatives in the Hollywoodbets Durban July Fashion Experience by Durban Fashion Fair (DFF).
It offers a captivating preview of Durban's vibrant up-and-coming designers, poised to make a striking impact on South Africa's fashion industry.
This year, the showcase promises to be a feast for the senses, with an array of fashion that caters to diverse tastes, from the elegant pieces for curvier fashionistas to dapper menswear with a proudly African twist under the theme "Marvels of Mzansi".
Among the nine designers selected, six have cultivated their skills under the guidance of industry heavyweights through the Durban Fashion Fair's (DFF) prestigious business support and mentorship programme.
The remaining three represent seasoned, award-winning professionals from the 2024 DFF Fashion Showcase, bringing a wealth of runway experience to the event.
Nondumiso Mhlongo of Curved Ndlovukazi, Kazadi Wilson Mukeya from Victor Fashion Kingdom and Eulender Cele of Eullue have been selected alongside Nelly Nxumalo of Ezobkhosi Designs, Nelisiwe Dlamini of Slop Duka and Zandile Myeza of AZM Fashion Creations.
Bonisiwe Ndlovu of Dfant Fashion Clothing, Muzi Mlambo from MitaN Dyzn and Mbasa Ndongeni Iqhosha House of Fashion round up the list of participants.
'We are extremely excited about the Hollywoodbets Durban July and the talent that will be on display, especially as this year's theme enables designers to use every ounce of their creativity," said DFF business support facilitator Nondumiso Mthembu.
"There is a lot to feel marvellous about. We can't wait to be marvelled by what these designers will produce."
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Owner of Curved Ndlovukazi, Nondumiso Ndlovu.
Image: Instagram.
"I am humbled and excited by the opportunity that I have been given to showcase my brand and my designs. I am humbled by the chance to network and mingle with the giants out there, and the young ones, the creatives. Fashion is my first love," said Mhlongo, who represents curvier fashion through her label Curved Ndlovukazi.
Meanwhile, Mukeya is set to captivate audiences with his Afrocentric menswear collection named after his firstborn.
'Believe it or not, I started sewing while I was at school, in grade 10. I was inspired by my older brother, who was already an established fashion designer. I was encouraged to join the DFF by a friend in 2018, and since then, I have not looked back,' he said.
Mukeya further elaborated on his collection, drawing inspiration from the "inky drama of Durban's night sky".
'I don't have words to describe how I feel. This is the first time that I will put my menswear designs on the Hollywoodbets Durban July stage, and I am over the moon.'
Kazadi Wilson Mukeya, owner of Victor Fashion Kingdom (VFK).
Image: Instagram.
DUT graduate Cele is also gearing up to make her mark, showcasing her effortlessly cool aesthetic that has already turned heads from Umlazi to uptown.
'My collection is ready-to-wear, outdoorsy, sporty, high-end, simple, beautiful, and timeless,' Cele noted, expressing her excitement after being mentored by previous industry leaders, including Miss Money Penny.
"I am looking forward to this opportunity."
The prestigious horse-racing and fashion event is set to take place on Saturday, July 5, at the Greyville Racecourse in Durban.
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Next Stay Close ✕ In this column we present, the name Sam China who, if you were the follower of the game of football, would be as well-known as a Patel's beans bunny in the 1960s. It is a story of a of a man who arrived as an indentured labourer and built a life that would give so much to a people who had so little. We honour Sam China and the legacy he bequeathed. The name Sam China was inscribed in the memory of many generations as the name of the premier soccer competition in which Indians competed nationally until the 1970s. As the 1960 tournament brochure described it, the 'nameless, magic quality of the Sam China Cup kept pulling them in, in their usual thousands'. Many Indians made their way to Kimberley following the diamond boom. Image: Supplied Sam China was six when he arrived in Natal in 1863 as Camatchee Seeneevassen, indentured number 1856, on the Earl of Hardinch from the French colony of Pondicherry (now Pudicherry) in September 1863 with his parents Seeneevassen Maurimutoo and Anundoyee, and siblings Peraman, Arjoonenv, Rungasawmy, and Veramah. As a teenager, Sam China worked for William Hartley's Overport Sugar and Coffee Estate, which covered the greater part of present-day Overport and subsequently joined a M Smith, manager of Standard Bank, as a "stable boy". Students of the Perseverance School, Kimberley, early 20th Century Image: Supplied Sam China gave up his right to a free return passage to India when he obtained a licence on 31 March 1875 to leave Natal. Together with five friends, legend has it that they went by foot Kimberley in 21 days. Sam China was part of a stream of Indians who moved to Kimberley where the diamond industry was flourishing. The newspaper Diamond Fields published an article in 1874 on Indian life in Kimberley: 'Our Coolie friends are on the rampage just now. Generally speaking, the mild Hindu on the diamond fields takes life and its cares more easily than other exotics. At all hours of the day, let alone the night, they may be found in their odorous quarters, some playing pitch and toss for shillings and half crowns, some chanting their devotions in the whine of primitive piety, some professing to sell stale cucumbers, and other green and yellow impositions; all enjoying an enviable immunity from solicitude.' Sam China (right) with some of Kimberley's leading merchants. Image: Supplied Another report in Diamond Fields in 1880 observed that Indians earned a living as 'itinerant purveyors of fruit and vegetables', barbers, proprietors of hot and cold baths, and waiters. By 1899, there were approximately 1 500 Indians in Kimberley out of a population of around 35 000. Sam China worked for Rogers Bros for several years before opening his own general dealer's and fruit business in Kimberley in the mid-1880s. He was well known to influential white figures in the city, including mining magnate Cecil John Rhodes. Several members of his extended family followed him. Sam China had two daughters, Patty, who married boxing promoter Nat Moodley, and Valliamah, who married Leo Gopaul and was one the first Indian women councillors in the Cape. Nat Moodley was a renowned figure in the sporting world. He was president of the Natal Indian Football Association, executive member and treasurer of the Durban Indian Sports Ground Association and manager of Natal teams at the Sam China Cup. He was best known as a boxing promoter whose bouts drew thousands to Curries Fountain. Nat Moodley's only son, named Sam China after his grandfather but popularly known as 'Booysie', was associated with Young Aces soccer club for many years. 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His contemporaries' wonderful memories were recorded in tributes such as the following: 'Those who have had the privilege of knowing him attest to the fact that Sam China was a man of unimpeachable trustworthiness, possessed of a driving force, and a shrewd business brain that gave him the Midas touch… "He was a martinet who carried himself with an old world dignity. His ability to analyse a given situation, his clarity of thought, and the gift of galvanising those around him into immediate action to meet any problem lifted him above mediocrity. His was not the good fortune to receive formal education but he was one of the best informed men of his day… But of all his attributes his greatest was his ability to make and keep friends. He never forgot his beginnings, however much he rose as an amazingly successful businessman and outstanding public figure.' 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