The local textile and clothing industry reached greater heights on March 5th following the successful opening of ‘The Fifth’, a retail store located in Glenwood Village featuring garments from six of Durban’s top award-winning female fashion designers.
This bold move is earmarked to create sustainable financial generation for these designers and the City as well as contribute to Durban’s vision of becoming Africa’s fashion capital.
Three of the six powerhouse women partners of ‘The Fifth’ are beneficiaries of the Durban Fashion Fair (DFF) development programme which traces its roots back eight years when it emerged from the Durban Business Fair and became a standalone event six years ago. The DFF programme enhances the skills of local fashion designers and broadens industry related knowledge through research.
The six designers include Zama Kwenzi Nkomo from fashion brand house Indoni Fashion House, Mandi Zuma from Inkosazane, Nokwanda Wanda Ngcobo from 8th Wanda, Zama Gumede from Zaviar, Silomo Ntombela from Silomo and Sibu Msimang from fashion house Sibu Msimang.
Joining the celebrations of ‘The Fifth’ opening was the Municipality’s Fashion Manager, Sindi Shangase who congratulated the designers for taking Durban’s fashion to the next level. “I have no doubt that this clothing shop will be a success as it features women who are hard workers and committed to what they do as well as being innovators of note.”
She said despite them not being in the fashion industry for very long, their determination to win has stood them in good stead with many of their work being showcased around the world.
Shangase also noted that Kwenzi Nkomo was named 2019 DFF Best Ladies Wear Collection while Durban Designer of the Year 2019 went to Zama Gumede, both receiving cash prizes to advance their fashion labels.
Shangase said some of the designers have directly and indirectly benefitted from the Municipality’s developmental opportunities including trading their ranges at the DFF Emporium in Mega City Mall.
“As a caring City, we are proud to witness our efforts yielding great results as designers can now be independent,” said Shangase. She said they will continue offering much-needed financial and non-financial support to local designers as the entire fashion value chain – from raw materials to the factories that produce textiles as well as the distribution channels that takes manufactured products to the consumer – contributed significantly to the economy of the City, furthering the creation of jobs and helping to alleviate poverty. Shangase urged Durbanites to support local enterprises by buying locally designed garments.
The store is located at the Glenwood Village, on the corner of Che Guevara and Hunt Road in Glenwood and trades from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday and on weekend’s opening times are 9am to 2pm on Saturday and 10am to 2pm on Sundays.
To be updated on the latest the store has to offer, follow them on Instagram @thefifth031 and on Facebook @thefifth
Also follow #DFF2020 at www.facebook.com/DurbanFashionFair / @Dbnfashion_fair / #madeindurban / #supportlocal