Bruce Ndlovu
Local fashion designer Saneliso Mpofu will be the citya��s sole representative at this yeara�� Tshwane Fashion Festival which begins Friday and ends on Saturday.
Mpofu (ABOVE), who graduated from the fashion and design school at the Bulawayo Polytechnic last year, will be showcasing her Sanah Designs at the festival which has been running for two years now.
In addition to her education at the Bulawayo Polytechnic Mpofu has served stints as a designer at Edgars Stores and Escapades while she has also showcased at platforms such as the Durban Fashion Fair, Intwasa Fashion Show and Matabeleland Fashion Week, among others.
This yeara��s Tshwane Fashion Festival will feature 22 designers from six countries from around the continent. The fashion platform aims to unite young African designers and also give them a platform to expose their works and link them to other similar platforms, allowing them to grow their brands.
Previous partnerships have seen designers from the event showcase at platforms in Ghana and Nigeria. This year the festival will branch out to creating linkages with the USA.
For Mpofu her collections, which run under the theme Broken Raven, are more than mere designs as they are inspired by the desire to see the triumph of young women around the continent who find themselves unable to reach their true potential because of dire circumstances.
a�?I hope that one day our African girls will be set free from a lot of stereotypes and pre-conceived ideas planted in them. I am really excited about showcasing at Tshwane Fashion Festival. I would have not done it without God and the support of my family, they keep pushing me further,a�? she said.
