Hillbrey Jonas
Project runway has always been one of my favourite shows. The show is about a group of talented designers competing against each other through a series of designing challenges to win the ultimate prize. Ever since I’ve started watching it, I’ve wished for South Africa to get our own Project Runway show to showcase our talented designers and their creative visions in fashion. This year, the famous David Tlale himself has made my wishes come true. And to top this of, this show isn’t just another copy of an American show but it’s David Tlale’s very own show where he is on the search for his next intern.
David Tlale launched his own brand in 2003 and has only been a success since then. He’s an award-winning designer whose work has been showcased in Cape Town, New York, Washington and Paris. Any up and coming designer would be blessed to work under his supervision and to have him as a mentor. In his show, The Intern, he is giving one lucky designer the chance to do just that. One lucky designer who is talented and hardworking enough to win, of course. But it isn’t just as easy as that when you have a whole group of talented designers, each one bringing something else to the table. It all comes down to how good they can deliver on their challenges. These challenges teach the designers the different aspects that go with fashion and designing; collaborating, branding, how to think out of the box and how to cater to the clients’ needs. Challenges until thus far have included deconstructing a garment to reconstruct, swimwear in collaboration with Jockey, flower couture and ready-to-wear in collaboration witch Jet. Having started with 12 designers, we’re down to the 6th episode and only left with 7 designers.
Boitumelo Selepe, 30
Welhemina Ratsoma, 27
Michaline de la porte, 25
Kuena Moshoeshoe, 29
Keletso Moraba, 23
Samuel Mosala, 44
Cyla Gonsolves, 22
The winning intern will receive R200 000 in cash, a studio and machinery to the value of R250 000, Mercedes-Benz CLA and of course become David Tlale’s assistant creative director. There can only be one winner but every single contestant on the show can walk away and say they’ve learn a lot and not just from anybody but from the David Tlale himself. If you’ve missed out on all shows craziness, you can watch all the episodes on youtube or catch the latest episode every Wednesday at 19:30 on SABC 3 to see who will be falling off the seams next.
