Online Reporter
Mbulelo Mpofu
Zimpapers Arts and Entertainment Hub
Earlier this month, the South African Fashion Week announced a strategic pause after 28 years as the continent’s premier design showcase, and industry voices have been weighing in on the move.
Among them is Zimbabwe-born designer Tanaka Magirazi Vengere, founder of NGANO Design Africa and the recent winner of SA Fashion Show’s prestigious 2025 New Talent Search, who sees the hiatus not as an ending, but as a vital opportunity for evolution.
Fashion Week Director Lucilla Booyzen confirmed the break, stating, “I believe it is vital that we take a season to listen, think, and reflect together as a designer community and the industry at large, so that we can shape the best new direction and secure a thriving future for our industry.”
Citing global supply chain shifts, the relentless rise of fast fashion, and the critical need for sustainability, Booyzen framed the pause as a “recalibration” and “thoughtful re-evaluation” aimed at reshaping how creative designer fashion is marketed.
The goal is to forge a future model that is dynamic, relevant to the South African market and the Global South, while maintaining global connections.
For Vengere, the SA Fashion Week’s impact is deeply personal.
“The fashion show is a beautiful launchpad for designers. I had the privilege of being part of it as an emerging designer who went on to win their New Talent Search competition this year in 2025. I appreciated the way I was embraced by the team and their willingness to assist and support us during the process of the competition.
“It helped me refine my creative voice and boost my confidence. The visibility that being part of the show gave me was amazing.
“ Starting out like this and the commitment to continued support via marketing channels like Instagram is great. My experience working with the SAFW team was rich; the standard to which they pushed us all as participants was helpful, and the ability to have insights and advice from people who have been in the African fashion industry for this long and seen all that they have seen was invaluable.
“Overall, the process went well, and I was made to feel as important as I was made to feel responsible for being part of this event.”
Vengere praised the high standards and invaluable mentorship, noting Booyzen’s emphasis on collective responsibility.
“One of the many things that Lucilla Booyzen stressed to us was that we are all important players in the future of our industry, and we need to approach it with determination and diligence and also find ways we can work together as designers.
“Giving back to the industry and the platform to ensure its continuity was also a major point she stressed, and it resonated with me.”
However, Vengere is acutely aware of the hurdles facing designers, particularly in the region.
“I think fashion in the region is not without its problems and prohibitions, mostly centred around funding and production.
“The idea of having these things figured out already before you engage with a platform like SAFW is expected and not always possible,” he observed.
He expressed hope that SAFW’s recalibration would find ways to remedy these fundamental challenges. He directly linked prohibitive costs to declining participation: “Having had a few conversations with some other designers, the idea of fashion shows and their costs had become prohibitive, and even from the SAFW point of view, fewer designers were taking part in the platform. Their hope is to have as many designers take part and benefit from it to grow the industry.”
Far from viewing the hiatus as a setback, Vengere sees it as a courageous and necessary step.
“Personally, I do not see this hiatus that SAFW is taking as a tragedy; rather, it is a necessary move. The world has changed so much and so rapidly that most organisations cannot or do not take the time to recalculate and strategise how to best navigate this world we find ourselves in.”
He commended SAFW for committing to ongoing digital support for designers during the pause and endorsed the need for a new model: “I think the model of fashion shows does need a revamp of some kind, and these are sentiments shared even by international thinkers in the space. I commend SAFW for actually taking steps to figure out what this revamp could be.”
Vengere concluded with optimism: “I am confident in their assurance that the media and informational support they have always afforded to designers will continue.
“There will be no hole left, per se, but space for designers and other players in the industry to also take a pause and recalculate their own operations. I am hopeful that they will manage to come back ready to give better service to their designers and be a beacon on the continent.”
