May will be the month to celebrate being fashionably South African at the SA Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU)’s annual Cape Town Fashion Festival.

The festival combines a powerful mix of fashion and entertainment, including a catwalk show in the Company Gardens where Afro Pop group Malaika will perform and fashion shows both in Cavendish Square and the Promenade Shopping Centre in Mitchell’s Plain as well as a heavy-weight business imbizo and the country’s largest SETA graduation.

It will all culminate in the prestigious Cape Town Fashion Awards that recognises exceptional industry performance, to be held at Spier Estate outside Stellenbosch.

The festival, initiated by SACTWU in 2002, is unique on the fashion calendar in that it is spearheaded by the union and places a special emphasis on the key role of labour to the continued success of the industry.

The festival will kick off on 1 May 2008 with the City Catwalk fashion show in the Company Gardens that will feature collections from eight new and established designers and more than a dozen manufacturers.

The Fashion Imbizo on 6 May 2008 will serve as a hard-hitting forum for stakeholders to discuss critical issues confronting the local industry currently.

It will see presentations by Ebrahim Patel who is the initiator and convenor of the Festival, as well as managing directors of several clothing manufacturers.

The festival will culminate in the Cape Town Fashion Awards on 17 May where top achievement in nine categories will be recognised.

The 2008 Cape Town Fashion Festival

Date: 1 – 17 May 2008
Venue: Company Gardens and other various venues
Location: Cape Town

The 2008 Cape Town Fashion Festival programme:

1 May: 10h30 - 13h00 City Catwalk, Company Gardens
1 May: 09h00 - 11h30 SETA Graduation, SETA Graduation, Purpose Hall.
6 May: 10h30 - 12h30 Fashion Industry Imbizo,Levi Strauss, Epping Industria.
8 May: 19h30 - 21h00 Cavendish Square Fashion, Cavendish Square.
10 May: 11h00 - 13h00 Cape Flats Fashion, Promenade Centre.
17 May: 19h30 - 23h00 Gala Night & Fashion Awards, Moyo’s Restaurant.

For all the best information on the events and festivals happening in and around Cape Town this May, subscribe to our Editor’s Picks Newsletter and we will keep you in the loop.

If fashion is your forte then why not have a look at the other great fashion events that are happening in Cape Town during 2008 like Fashion Exchange +27.