Durban fashion designer, Sipho Mbuto, partners with Pick n Pay clothing
Imagine wearing the coolest clothes and supporting local designers at the same time? A win-win!
In 2018, Sipho Mbuto graduated from the Durban University of Technology with a Diploma in Fashion and Design.
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That same year, he won the first season of the television series 'MadeInAfrica', a design competition on BET Africa, and with his incredible skills and eye for fashion, he walked away with the title in the season finale.
Clearly a big year for Sipho!
But his success did not stop there.
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Now he is one of the three young local designers chosen to collaborate with Pick n Pay clothing, who will be launching exclusive fashion ranges with the brand.
This campaign is an extension of Pick n Pay's collab with renowned fashion designer Gavin Rajah, with who they collaborated last year, and Rajah will be serving as a mentor to the three designers as they create these limited collections.
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The three proudly local designers are Durban's own Sipho Mbuto, as well as Zarah Cassim and Julia Buchanan, who are both from Cape Town.
Together, Pick n Pay and the designers aim to create designer wear and high fashion pieces that are accessible and affordable for their general customers.
The success of the designer collaborations when first launched last year, and the positive response from Pick n Pay Clothing customers to the exclusive collections, spurred us to build on to what we had achieved and to get them excited once again about updating their wardrobes.
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Hazel also said that they want to support as much local talent as possible while providing them with the opportunity to elevate their skills and manufacturing.
Gavin Rajah is also excited to be sharing his many years of experience to help these younger designers master their craft while they maintain their creative freedom and unique forms of expression.
Now in its second year, this watershed collaboration has brought to designers a much-needed platform to flex their talent, access support from a technical and entrepreneurial perspective, as well as understand the clothing manufacturing landscape from a mass retail perspective. We are slowly building a community of creatives that can lean on each other for mentorship and direction.
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Here's a little taste of what you can expect from the individual designers and their collaborations:
Zarah Cassim (artist)
Julia Buchanan (Swimwear)
Sipho Mbuto
Mbuto enjoys exploring the freedom of self-expression in his designs and focuses on the strength surrounding individuality.
Here are a few of his designs:
With that in mind, we can't wait to see what his pieces in collaboration with Pick n Pay look like!
Pick n Pay's fashion branch announced that these exclusive collections will be available online and in retail stores by the end of 2021.
Main image courtesy of Sinotho Msweli/Twitter