Creative designer shines at Durban July

HER passion for designing and sewing her own clothes from the age of 13 flourished into a successful career for Kloof designer, Racine Denny.

The ambitious 24-year-old, who bagged third place at this year’s Vodacom Durban July in the fashion challenge, said, “The theme for this year’s Vodacom Durban July was ‘The Captain’s Table’. I wanted my design to be a dress that was timeless but also formal and classic, a dress that would be seen on a guest lucky enough to be invited to dine with the captain. For the colour I was inspired by beautiful copper fittings.”

Denny, whose creativity and skill is exposed in every garment she designs, shared details about her journey thus far: “When I finished matric I was not 100 per cent sure of which aspect of the fashion industry I wanted to go into. I decided, since English was one of my passions, I would look into doing fashion journalism. I soon realised this wasn’t my passion. The Durban University of Technology for fashion design was recommended to me as it is the most comprehensive fashion degree in the country. So I moved back to Durban and have since completed three years at DUT and am currently busy completing my fourth year.

“My final year fashion show was one of my biggest achievements so far. We, as third-year students, were tasked with making a range of six looks as well as an opening range garment for the final fashion show, which took place during the first week of October. For each range, the student had to come up with a theme on which they based their designs, colour pallet and fabric choice. For my range I looked at human anatomy and how disease effects the cells and the body. I created a fabric from cotton thread to act as ‘exposed veins’ on the skin. I used this fabric to make bags, shoes, head pieces, jackets and tops, as well as using it as an overlay over fabric.

“Another great achievement was taking part in last year’s Young Designers competition for the Vodacom Durban July. The theme was ‘The Silver Screen’, for which I drew inspiration from one of my favourite movies, Gone With the Wind’s lead character, Scarlet O’Hara. I hand-beaded and printed the dress and created a hat using an old school basher and a big fabric rose, which I made from left-over fabric that I used to make the dress. I loved the final outcome and felt very proud making it into the top 10.

“This year I was lucky enough to be selected for the top 10 in the fashion challenge for the Vodacom Durban July. I used the same concept of fabric creation that I used for my final range to create a thread fabric made from spun copper and cotton thread. I beaded into the fabric and layered it to give a shining effect. I feel very proud of my fabric as well as having been selected, and feel like it is a wonderful achievement.”

Her future goals include being able to create her own line and gain experience in the media industry, for example by working as an intern at a magazine.