Winners from the South African Sustainable Fashion Awards have gone on to do wow-worthy things, like being featured in Vogue and having their designs travel the world. Here’s what a few of the winners have been up to!
South Africa (05 November 2023) — Stars of circularity, the ever-so-talented Katherine-Mary Pichulik, Cleo Droomer and Shamyra Moodley are among the line-up of winners at last year’s Twyg Sustainable Fashion Awards who have accomplished some impressive feats since then. Almost a year later, here’s what these progressive, conscious fashionistas have been up to.
“The past year has really been about thinking and dreaming into new ways of making, especially within my immediate communities,” says Cleo Droomer, who has continued his industry-changing exploration of zero-waste textile pieces.
A ‘story-tailor’ and the designer behind his label Droomer, not only did Cleo win in the Innovative Design and Materials category in 2022, he was also the winner of the overall Changemaker Award.
Alongside many other recent creative projects, a highlight for the designer was creating a patchwork dress with historical details for Aaniyah Martin founder of The Beach Co-Opt (which empower coastal communities to become eco-guardians) for the ‘One Blue Heart zero-waste’ gala this year.
LaaniRaani, also known as Shamyra Moodley, was the winner of the Nicholas Coutts Award. The award is presented to a designer who uses artisanal craft techniques such as weaving, embroidery or botanical dyeing to make fashion that foregrounds, celebrates and values the skills of the people who make the garments.
Moodley is a mother, writer and self-taught fashion designer, whose unique pieces are handmade in her home studio from vintage and reclaimed fabric.
She’s been on a whirlwind fashion adventure over the past few months, showcasing her work in Paris and Milan, and being selected as one of Design Indaba’s Emerging Creatives for 2023.
The Twyg Sustainable Fashion Awards offer a much-needed platform for South African creatives, says Katherine-Mary Pichulik, the founder and creative director of Cape Town’s Pichulik that took home the Accessories Award in 2022.
Her handcrafted sculptural jewellery is exported across the globe and is regularly featured in international fashion magazines such as Vogue!
Together with the trio mentioned above, all of last year’s winners have demonstrated the enormous potential of sustainable South African fashion.
Very soon, this year’s edition of the Sustainable Fashion Awards will shine the spotlight on another set of changemakers who prioritise a circular fashion industry. The finalists in the fifth edition of the Awards will be announced on 14 November 2023, and the overall winners are set to be named at an awards ceremony on 23 November 2023.
Ten designers and brands will be recognised for their implementation of sustainable, ethical, circular and regenerative design across an array of categories, including Accessories, Innovative Design and Materials, Footwear, Farm-To-Fashion, Social Impact, Emerging Designer, Retail, Tastemaker and Trans-seasonal Design, plus the Nicholas Coutts Award. The overall prize, the Changemaker Award, with a R100 000 prize, is presented to a designer whose career has embraced sustainable and circular design practices.
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