Sindiso Khumalo set to showcase at Milan Fashion Week

Sindiso Khumalo set to showcase at Milan Fashion Week

South African designer Sindiso Khumalo is set to showcase her Spring/Summer 21 collection at Milan Fashion Week on Heritage Day, September 24.

She is one of the eight winners of the LVMH 2020 Prize. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, changes were made to the usual practice of allocating a grand prize.

The 2020 finalists could not present their collections to the panel of judges in June.

As such, the prize money was distributed equally among all eight 2020 finalists: Peter Do, Priya Ahluwalia, Casablanca’s Charaf Tajer, Nicholas Daley, Sindiso Khumalo, Tomo Koizumi, Supriya Lele and Chopova Lowena, to cushion the economic threat posed on young talent and their businesses.

Khumalo was also awarded an opportunity to present her collections at Milan Fashion Week.

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I come from a family of makers. My Grandmother used to sew, knit and crochet all her children’s clothes and wedding gowns for the community. All through the 80s my Mother sewed up a storm of shoulder padded powersuits from old Burda patterns. All through my university life my Aunties would gift me with bedsheets, pillowcases and crocheted sofa headrests that they would make on their weekends off. Making for me is in my blood. I was 12, when I first sat down in front of my mother’s sewing machine to sew my first pair of mustard culottes and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would end up here. Tremendously grateful to all the amazing makers who have imparted theirs skills to me. Thank you to all our collaborators, my family, my mentors and all the NGOs we have worked with past and present. Thank you to the judges for believing in our message and voting our brand into the LVMH Prize final. Huge congratulations to my fellow semi finalists and finalists. I am grateful to be surrounded by your talent. Thank you all at @lvmhprize for awarding each one of us this tremendous opportunity to bring home our own individual messages on sustainability, community and craft. Making clothes for me and like many fellow contestants, has not just been about the clothes but changing the status quo. For our brand it is about breaking down the patriarchal institutions that still exist within our African context, pushing through the message of female empowerment and bringing in sustainable practices into our work. We don’t always have everything figured out and we don’t always get it right, but we try…daily. Making in Africa also has its own challenges – daily powercuts, petty theft, lack of fabric, tricky postal systems and many daily operational challenges. But with each challenge brings its own opportunity: to push our continent’s cultural heritage forward and to address issues of poverty and social inequality. And to share with the world, the magic that is our African continent. We live in the land of magic and dreams. This one is for the dreamers. This one is for Africa. This one is for my babies. Ngiyabonga. 🙏🏾

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The Durban-born designer, who is based in Cape Town, will be showcasing alongside big brands such as Max Mara, Emporio Armani and Prada.

Taking to Instagram to share the news with her 18.3K followers, Khumalo said: “Super excited to be presenting our SS21 collection at Milan Fashion Week this year. Very excited to have been included on the schedule, in our capacity for the first time.

Huge, huge thanks to @cameramoda for their continuous support of our brand. The digital film showcase will air on Thursday CEST 5pm. Link in our bio. Onwards and upwards, let’s keep building.”

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