Raceday fashion highlights exciting fashion scene
Durban – The Raceday Fashion Awards attracted huge interest as hundreds entered the various categories hoping for raceday glory at the 2023 Hollywoodbets Durban July on Saturday as all tried to interpret the Out of This World theme in their own unique way.
Hollywoodbets Greyville was a hive of activity for the hopefuls as they entered the Classic Raceday for Women, Classic Raceday for Men, Most Striking Couple and the Exceptional Raceday Hat or Fascinator.
The various entries took the theme in a number of exciting directions and after claiming the most Striking Couple award for her ensemble, Brenda Waring says that there’s a lot more to creating a winning number.
“It takes a lot of dedication and hard work to get a piece into an event like this and I’m just so overwhelmed that I managed to win,” Waring said.
“There are a lot of sleepless nights involved but you have to be confident in what you do and after this concept came to me in a dream, I went with it and it’s so satisfying to win an award like this.”
It was a second win in as many years for Waring in the Most Striking Couple category after she won in 2022 with her design alongside Pamela Shane.
Second place in the Most Striking Couple category went to Tyler Grendon and Kayla Anne Lindsey who were modelling a number created by Sanele Mkhize.
Third place went to designer sisters Catherine and Irene Nolan for their creation that was modelled by Cyra van der Merwe and Lungelo Mathonsi.
In the Classic Racewear for women it was Nguni Shades who walked away with the honours for his creation that was worn by Minenhle Ngcobo that was inspired by the 1850s as the designer picks up another raceday fashion award.
“It’s great to win this award and to add it to the other awards that I’ve won here at the Hollywoodbets Durban July,” Shaun Majola (Nguni Shades) said.
“It’s not easy to keep creating new ideas and new designs but with the theme this year it really helped me because I wanted to create something that no one else would think about.
“The fashion industry is battling in this country, and we are always trying to stay alive, so these sorts of events are important for us,” he added.
Second place in the Classic Racewear for Women went to Nelly Maduna for her number that was modelled by Gugu Sithole while third went to AFI with model Lwandle Mgwenya.
In the Classic Racewear for Men first place went to Kgotsofolo Given Monyamate for his piece that was shown off by model Sphosethu Thwala. Second place in this category went to Mr Dress while this was taken home by Mr Martin.
Each of the raceday fashion competition winners took home R5 000 from Gold Circle and Schweppes and a R2 500 gift card from the Gateway Theatre of Shopping, while the second places won R3 000 from Gold Circle and Schweppes, with the third placed designers earning R2 000 from Gold Circle and Schweppes.
