Carol Ofori's marveling looks at Durban July 2025
This year, Carol Ofori brought the 'marvel' to the Hollywood Bets Durban July as she donned three looks made by proudly KZN designers...
Daytime queen Carol Ofori brought the marvel by hosting at the exclusive grandstand suite at the Hollywood Bets Durban July.
East Coast Radio partnered with Sinayo Hospitality and delivered an iconic experience with A-list entertainment and "next-level luxury". Carol shared the stage with Somizi Mhlongo as the MC and did our queen slay with her looks, or what?
When creating her fashion looks for this year's Durban July, Carol entrusted one of her favourite local boutiques, The Fifth 031. The boutique was founded by four female designers, each with their accolades and a unique and inspiring view on fashion and women.
Three of the four designers from The Fifth 031 were involved in creating Carol's looks this Durban July.
Sibu Msimang created a protea-inspired look for Carol that elegantly focused on our national flower. This wasn't the only reason she chose to make the protea her focal point; since our national team won, this was dedicated to them. " It was a celebration of the Protea in a delicate way," said Carol.
South African designers are so talented. Designers in KZN are so talented. It is so sad to see how the fresh and creative world has just cheapened many of these amazing garments by mass producing them from different Chinese companies. For example, they mass-produce stuff that the local designers are making, as niche or as customs. The more people that buy local productions and local designs will keep our industry going. I love African fashion. We have a beautiful accents and interpretation of, of trends.
Carol's second look was created by Zaviar Fashion house by designer, Zama Gumede.
This golden dress didn't just stun us with its amazing beadwork, but also represented the beautiful sunsets and sunrises of Zi, the wonderful earth and soil, the browns and the golds representing the people.
Carol wore her hair in a braided crown, which added to the royalty of the dress.
The last dress was by Indoni Fashion House, with designer Kwenzi Nkomo. " The Xhosa traditional dress inspires this dress. The two lines at the bottom indicate traditional Xhosa wear. Then, at the top, you can see the feathers and shells representing the wonderful seas and oceans. Those ripples in the dress represent the ocean and the shells, of course, the oceans", said Carol.
Carol wore beautiful headgear in addition to her stunning dresses. Sibu Msimang created the protea in the first dress, while Braided by Bonolo did Carol's hair for the gold dress, which took on the shape of a crown. Bonolo also created the final look, which had shells inside the crown.
Image below courtesy of Instagram.
"I literally had to sit down for each outfit and had to go and shop around and find pieces that would complement every single look. So it took a very long time. I think it took me two weeks to gather accessories", said Carol.
We asked Carol Ofori how she felt about each designer's design inspiration.
I didn't tell them anything. I just said, please interpret the theme as you would like to. So each of them really went out of their way to get creative and think of how they could do it for me, and I loved everyone's interpretation. I felt amazing. Even on my wedding day, I never wore three wedding dresses. So, this was really special. I've never done an event where I've worn three dresses. I'm very happy that I could pull that off with the help of the ladies from the Fifth and their beautiful gowns.
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Images Supplied by Julian Carelsen