The Fashion Design Programme recently hosted its first Spring Market Day, a dynamic event designed to showcase creativity, promote sustainability and encourage collaboration.

Lecturer Siviwe Jack said third-year Fashion Design students led the initiative, which provided a platform for them to showcase and sell their original garments.

In addition, it encouraged sustainability through a clothing swap and aimed to create a collaborative space for various creative disciplines within the university.

“This event also aligns with the broader Fashion Revolution movement, fostering awareness around sustainable fashion and student innovation,” said Jack.

She said the objectives were to:

• Provide fashion students with a real-world platform to showcase and monetise their work.
• Create opportunities for journalism and photography students to document and cover the event, building their portfolios.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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A set of elegant fashion sketches on the theme "African Safari" has earned first-year Fashion Design student Zenobia Rasper one of the major prizes in the Foschini Annual Design (FAD) Awards.

Her win in Foschini’s national sketching competition for first year students with financial need was announced at an awards ceremony on 21 August 2008 at Mandela-Rhodes place in Cape Town. As one of the country’s promising young design students she received a bursary of R20 000.

Rasper grew up in Elsiesriver and has fostered dreams of becoming a fashion designer since seeing her first fashion show on television at the age of six. Continuous practice in drawing helped her fine-tune her skills. ""I didn’t expect to win,” she said. “It was amazing to see my family so proud.”

“She is one of the top of her class,” said Talita Weideman, Fashion Design lecturer and supervisor on the winning project, “The sketches showed brilliant drawing for a first year.”

In the fashion industry, a sketch gives the first visual indication of what a garment will look like. It communicates the design to patternmakers and to buyers. The African Safari sketches used natural fabrics such as cotton and silk as well as links to wildlife including animal print and feathers. Rasper refers to the overall effect as “animal inspiration.”

National fashion design competitions, such as the FAD, give students the opportunity to gain a wider perspective of the industry and to be exposed to other top students and professional designers. Attending this year’s FAD ceremony were Gabi Roshenwerth and Doreen Southwood, both major names in local design. The awards are endorsed by Craig Native, who takes part in the judging panel on an annual basis.

Foschini has sent its congratulations and has indicated that it looks forward to following Rasper’s progress.

By Ilana Abratt, Marketing and Communication Department

Written by CPUT News
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Fashion Design students served up an amazing display of creativity during the recent first- and second-year fashion showcase.

The venue for the “ultimate daytime ready-to-wear show” was the design pathway outside the Design Building at the District Six campus.

Lecturer Nicole Reynolds said that the last two Covid years had proven to be challenging for their students since many of them had to be taught physical skills and techniques without their lecturers being present to demonstrate, guide and correct them.

“This can prove to be a mammoth task when students are expected to produce garments while being faced with domestic, financial, technological issues, coupled with mental and emotional struggles – all incurred by Covid,” she said.

“Our students are a very driven, enthusiastic and motivated group, with a very strong hunger to learn and create which we, their lecturers are very excited and keen to teach and journey alongside them.”

 She said the students had “creatively gone” above and beyond any obstacles they had faced.

“So, putting these pieces on display is really the standing ovation necessary for a group of youngsters who, against the most trying odds, produced incredible pieces. These are achievements that simply have to be shouted and celebrated about.”

She said fashion designers live and thrive on the thought that their pieces will come alive on someone and on seeing it in motion.

“Once you’ve created something, seeing it on show in the way that you’ve always envisioned is such a great honour and a major confidence boost for you as a designer – and that’s ultimately the objective of the show. Not only to show others the brilliant work our students have produced but also to evoke a sense of excitement, anticipation and appreciation and love for the craft again, that may have been dampened by covid in some way. We want our students and all those who spectate to celebrate the reignition of art and design, creativity and interpretation.”

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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In an effort to promote sciences, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation, the STEM Club offered students a platform to exhibit their best research projects to the CPUT community.

This year's category winners are Mzameli Mashiyi, who is developing an African language speech recognition AI (Technology) and Nomava Mgidi, who is addressing unemployment through fashion design (Social Science).

This was part of the annual STEM Expo Competition at SARETEC as part of the National Science Week, where students were given opportunities to upscale their research projects via the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) for possible commercialisation. During this year's Expo Competition, the STEM Club worked closely with the Community Engagement (CE) and Work Integrated Learning (WIL) units. The neighbouring high school learners were also invited to be part of the programme and to view the exhibitions. CE and WIL also conducted a workshop with the learners.

The guest speakers included Jacqueline Scheepers: Manager: Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Unit, Dr Xena Cupido: Fundani CHED director, Dr Mark Jacobs: Maths lecturer, Dr Gillian Arendse: Nuclear Physicist for iThemba Labs), and Ntokozo Mashaba: last year's winner. Dr Frikkie George, who is also CPUT STEM Support Lead, said the lively and animated talk of Dr Arendse “gapped the interest of the attendees”.

George, who also coordinated the event, said they witnessed fewer exhibitors this year but “the quality of the projects was impressive”.

However, the STEM Expo Competition was well attended. “We explore the possibility of accessing funding for the winners to up-scale their projects for commercialisation. This event showcases the CPUT STEM Club's members' research projects, and it may contribute to their academic performance.”

George, who is also the acting Head of Department: Fundani STARS Unit, continued: “This STEM Expo competition will advance the STEM awareness at CPUT and showcase students' research projects in the different departments.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce

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