2017 Mandela Bay Fashion Week

In the next two months,starting from 12 October 2017 the Nelson Mandela Bay will be filled with a fashionable buzz because it will officially be fashion week. Words cannot describe how I am personally looking forward to the shows and the events that will be held during the four day extravaganza.

Last week Thursday, a media briefing was held by the organizers of the fashion week at Chapel Street Studios. It was a great to actually hear personally from the organizers of the fashion week and questions regarding the event were answered. The information about the fashion week is as follows as derived from the distributed statement from the organizers:

The Mandela Bay Fashion Week™ team is very pleased to announce that this year’s second edition of MANDELA BAY FASHION WEEK (NMBFW) is to take place from 12 - 15 October 2017 at The Tramways in Nelson Mandela Bay.

MANDELA BAY FASHION WEEK™ (NMBFW) came into being as an innovative, solution-focused concept to enliven and evolve the Fashion Scene in Nelson Mandela Bay. It was identified as a way to infuse and grow the economic scope of Nelson Mandela Bay’s fashion industry. The fashion Industry is a huge national and international market which offers individuals the opportunity to build their own enterprises in a creative sphere. The Eastern Cape has this creative and cultural heritage. The NMBFW serves as a platform where these fashion and design entrepreneurs can showcase their range of products. It also serves as a place of meeting between retailer, stockist, designer, emerging talent and the fashion consumer.

NMBFW AIMS TO:

(1) Contribute to the promotion of Nelson Mandela Bay’s creative diversity, by building the activity of the fashion sector, by providing a platform to Eastern Cape fashion designers.

(2) Afford emerging designers a chance to be exposed to potential national buyers and media, creating retail demand, as well as, significant exposure.

(3) Create a fashion culture within the city, sparking the interest of outside guests to visit the city and in turn creating a buzz in an increasingly tough market.

(4) Rank on the world Fashion Capital list.

Last year was the launch year of the show and was a successful start to an ongoing annual event. Building on the success of the launch year, the team are working with great energy, commitment and drive, for the 2017 event. The focus is to enhance and build on the viewer experience and to continue to raise production values, working closely in consultation with local professional teams. NMBFW pulled off last year’s show with a minimal cash budget

A creation from the 2016 Mandela Bay Fashion Week

Two designer brands Mechero & Ergo Zen were awarded retail space at The Space, BayWest Mall, allowing NMBFW to assist designers to tap into the retail space that the bay has to offer.
Both brands were scouted at the 2016 NMBFW and went onto showcase in Johannesburg at the Vukani Fashion Awards. Mechero was featured in a national publication, Essays’ Of Africa and Ergo Zen won one of the ‘High Fashion’ categories.
The NMBFW team are very proud of this achievement and are elated that the aims of the event are being made concrete in this business sector. From its inception NMBFW is making an impact and creating tangible results.

The NMBFW team have worked with great motivation - all year - towards the build up to the main event. To create a buzz around the event, spark engagement with the audience and contribute to our goal of building a fashion culture in the city – the team conceptualized and implemented monthly Sunday shows #BayFashionSunday

A model at #BayFashionSunday

The NMBFW team have undertaken the task to establish PE’s first fashion online TV channel: Bay Fashion TV. The channel should be fully operational by mid-September with unique fashion and tourism related content in and around NMB streaming 24/7.

A pilot version is already up and running and can be viewed on www.bayfashion.co.za. The significance of online TV is that it can be streamed worldwide and additionally a live stream of the entire Mandela Bay Fashion Week will be exclusive to Bay Fashion TV.

NMBFW have partnered with the NMB Stadium to host a final build up fashion show on Sunday the 1st of October. Tickets will be made available soon and showcasing designers will be confirmed by 1 September. Additionally, the Stadium management has offered to assist us through their marketing channels (Algoa FM) and their extensive client base to create further excitement to the build up of the show.

Green Pepper Productions have been commissioned to undertake the task of transforming the Tramways  into a world class fashion week production with brilliant audio, visual and runway experiences which promises to wow the audience from day one right until the end.

The NMBFW team have opted to host an automated fashion week, an innovative way to harness the latest technology. The entire production will be run by pre-recorded voice-over commands and relevant information which will be a first for Port Elizabeth!
The team decided to take this forward thinking approach, to utilize the trend of using cutting edge technology. This ties in with the main aim which is to compete on a global scale.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners and sponsors for their ongoing support and belief in this initiative. We are hoping that more local businesses and agencies will see the potential and join our existing sponsors and partners. MBDA (Mandela Bay Development Agency) have come to the fashion party and will be funding the winning designers range to be showcased at the retailer to the Value of R60 000. South African Fashion Designers Agency (SAFDA)’s founder, Mr Sonwabile Ndamase will again select designers to showcase in their Vukani Platform.

The Space, will select one winning designer to showcase their range in their Baywest Branch for a period of 6 months. There is potential for the designer to supply the retailer nationally should the winning designer’s range perform phenomenally at Baywest in terms of sales. The team are encouraging the public and everyone in NMB to go to these retailers and support these local designers. It was a first for The Space to have a Port Elizabeth designer supply their store and this was created through their partnership with NMBFW 2016. The SPACE will be building on this success in 2017.

Figures Models Finesse International is also coming on board as a partner. The Port Elizabeth branch opened in June 2017 as they identified that Port Elizabeth did not offer the same opportunities for aspiring models that the larger cities do.

Figures Models SA was started in 1986 and is a franchise that has branches both nationally and internationally. They are passionate about youth development and are affiliated to the IMTA. Figures Port Elizabeth can offer models the opportunity of international modelling contracts. Scouts are flown in from Milan, New York, London, Japan, etc. and models can showcase themselves at a convention in Johannesburg. Figures Port Elizabeth will be working closely with NMBFW’s models. 

One of the sponsors

Smashbox SA, BLC Attorneys and Woolworths in Walmer Park are  the other sponsors.Product sponsors are Score Black, Fitch & Leedes, Kitibella

Tickets: Early bird up until Sept 5.

Early bird general all week pass: R350
Early bird general one day pass: R150
Early Bird VIP: R650 allows for all week pass

For more info: Please visit www.fashionweek.co.za. Volunteers can register to assist at NMBFW, Media passes can be requested, there is a link to buy tickets online. Designer schedules etc.

Information was sourced from Mandela Bay Fashion Week Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/mandelabayfashionweek/posts/1319305701513516)

Images sourced from the Bay Fashion Sunday Facebook Page and Mandela Bay Fashion Week website http://fashionweek.co.za/gallery/

  

Video sourced from Youtube ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVP9kWG_b0Q)