Johannesburg, South Africa: The continent’s most prestigious annual fashion event – the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Africa, wrapped this past weekend at a glittering awards ceremony, held at Melrose Arch – where prolific fashion designer Thula Sindi walked away with the first ever title of ‘SA Tourism Designer of The Year’.
Thula Sindi, who had showcased his Spring/Summer collection on Saturday to a full capacity audience of media, fashion icons, buyers, stakeholders and fashion enthusiasts, was chosen by South African Tourism for the title.
Roshene Singh – South African Tourism’s Chief Marketing Officer says: “We chose Thula Sindi for his renowned creativity, distinctive South African style and his inclination to manufacture and source fabrics locally. Thula Sindi is always generous with his time and is always willing to share his experience and knowledge in giving international media insight and perspective into South Africa and its vibrant fashion industry.”
Grant Blackbeard – General Manager at African Fashion International (AFI), congratulated Sindi on this milestone, and highlighted the fact that Sindi’s commercial and retail business model is something that AFI strives to help all of the designers within their stable achieve.
“One of our main functions at AFI is to produce designers who can not only be creative, but also be able to develop and sustain viable businesses. Thula Sindi has worked extremely hard in the last couple of years to establish his brand, find his niche and distinguish himself on the retail and commercial markets while still being able to create once-off haute couture and bespoke pieces,” says Blackbeard.
A delighted Thula Sindi only had words of gratitude in response to this great nod from SA Tourism. “What a great honour this is. This is just the motivation I needed to work even harder to make my country proud. I’d like to thank my team for continuously thriving to create perfection, and of course the sophisticated ladies who wear my brand and thus bring it to life,” he said.
Along with the title, Thula Sindi wins a trip to one of SA Tourism’s key global markets, which he will travel to and promote his work assisted by SA Tourism.
