SA designer, Sindiso Khumalo, debuts her work at Milan Fashion Week
By Sumitra Naidoo
This article is exclusive to the Online Edition 11 of VARSITY News.
South African designer and UCT architectural alumni, Sindiso Khumalo, debuted her Spring-Summer 2021 collection at Milan Fashion Week. The collection is based on American abolitionist, Harriet Tubman.
Due to the ongoing global pandemic, many presentations this year took the form of a digital format. Khumalo’s label made use of a fashion film to showcase her collection. The film was shot in Philadelphia which is just outside of Cape Town. Models could be seen walking through canola fields and farmland, suggesting the landscape Tubman might have known. The collection is titled “Minty” after Tubman’s childhood nickname. Designs include tailored styles in hand-printed silk taffeta as well as handwoven cotton from Khumalo’s workshop in Burkina Faso.
Khumalo told CNN Style that through her collections she wants to “educate people on Black culture and Black history, as well as bring light to the violence that black women experience”. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery and rescued many enslaved people through the Underground Railroad; part of Khumalo’s work tries to ensure that the stories of historical black women are told. Previous collections highlighted princess Sarah Forbes Bonetta’s life and her future collection will be inspired by South African activist Charlotte Maxeke.
Khumalo’s work has always been remarkable, meaning that she is no stranger to the spotlight. Earlier this year she was a joint finalist at the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers, which saw her sharing the prize money of €300,000 (R5.9million). Readers can follow this remarkable woman on Instagram (@sindisokhumalo) – a woman who is bound to continue pioneering her extraordinary work all over the world.