Rising stars make mark with local is lekker designs
NEO RANGAKA is one of the rising talents to come out of this country.
The young woman has become part of a growing movement towards “local is lekker”, a motto Proudly South African lives by.
“I am honoured to be part of such a nation-building movement. I am a product of the Design Innovation Challenge by Edcon… which showed me what it truly means to be South African.
“It started off as a three-month programme of intensive training (on) design collections that are retail ready, and we were taught how to monetise our talents.”
Rangaka, whose brand BLVNK was founded in 2016 as a fashion consulting company, was talking at the media launch of the Buy Local Summit and Expo at Victoria Yards in Joburg.
She has used her fashion and business training to build her brand to fit the global scale. She will also be designing the uniforms to be worn at the summit.
Victoria Yards houses the local designers. “This place is empowering and they do so much to uplift the community. I am incredibly proud of my fellow designers.
“We all love it here and have grown so much.”
Mpumelelo Dhlamini’s brand, Ezokhetho, is selling in boutique stores like Burgundy Fly, while Shaylene Morris of Bi Parel is producing the bags for the Buy Local Summit.
Since opening her cut, make and trim business Morris has been able to create jobs and is also training the women that work for her.
“Being part of this programme has also made us get seen by major brands such as Woolworths. Sthembiso Mchunu’s brand Watermelon Social Club designed a collection for Woolies.
“These are just a handful of the opportunities we have gotten from the Design Innovation Challenge.”
Proudly South African chief executive Eustace Mashimbye, explaining the importance of the summit and expo now in its ninth year, said: “Proudly SA is the country’s only official buy local campaign and has grown the expo into a property that serves the interests of all local manufacturers and producers in this country.”
The event will feature at least 200 member companies ranging from small, artisanal enterprises to large multinationals and large corporates with manufacturing bases in South Africa.