David Tlale remained seated in the front row with his sunglasses on, as usual, taking no attention away from his four interns who staged a combined show at the Durban Fashion Fair at the weekend.
After almost a year spent mentoring the four young designers, Tlale, as he did earlier this year at Johannesburg's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, stepped back to let his apprentices shine.
The internship programme, sponsored by the KwaZulu-Natal government, has seen Tlale taking the four designers under his wing. Two of them - Nokwanda Ngcobo and Ayanda Mthembu - will travel to New York with him in two weeks' time, where the revered designer will once again be showcasing at New York Fashion Week.
"This will give them a sense of how things are done on a global fashion platform," Tlale says. "They are all incredibly talented. My influence was really from a technical guidance point of view, pointing them in the right direction and allowing them to release their inner creativity while understanding that, in the end, fashion is about business."
First up at the Durban show was Mthembu, whose models sashayed out in a creamy, muted palette - pastel blue and grey - as the young designer showed his own take on the cape.
Duke Mngadi, who designs menswear, brought his models out in retail-ready prints, mostly pairing beautifully tailored jackets with shorts, adding a street edge to preppy dressing à la Thom Browne.
Ngcobo's collection was as generous on volume as it was on shape and structure. The colourful print linings on her garments brought an added dose of fun to a collection that wasn't lacking in colour.
Ruth Samaai-Rankin brought flirty femininity to the runway with pretty pleats and prints defining her collection.
The interns trade under their own labels and their creations will be stocked at Tlale's shop in Morningside, Durban.
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