ISUZU Motors South Africa continues its partnership with SA Fashion Week by proudly announcing its collaboration with distinguished designers, Belinda Venter of Belhauzen, Morapedi Floyd Manotoana of Floyd Avenue Apparel, and Ole Ledimo, the founder of House of Olé. This bold trio will showcase their collections from the 26th to the 28th of September at the Autumn/Winter 2025 show.
These three design creatives emerged as the selected candidates from a contest spearheaded by ISUZU Motors South Africa and its partner, SA Fashion Week. From the 16 original candidates who participated, the brief was concise, “Submit your adventure gear designs to stand a chance to collaborate with ISUZU Luxury Collections.”
For the contestants, theirs was to each deliver different adventure gear looks that adhere to the originality and style we’ve grown accustomed to, from ISUZU. The pieces were also meant to be trans-seasonal, wearable, luxurious, fur and leather-free, and to consider the local weather. The adventure gear part, of course, pays homage to the company’s drive to create products that are fashionable everywhere.
Nandi Matomela, Senior Manager Brand Strategy & Field Marketing at ISUZU Motors South Africa and one of the judges, stated that, “People express themselves through their cars. From the chosen colour, the accessories they fit and even how they give their vehicle a name, it’s as personal as with fashion. Ours was to look for individuals who express themselves through their clothes, finding something that speaks to one’s personal brand from a vehicle and fashion point of view.”
Versatility and adaptability are where fashion and cars converge. Your car is, as are your clothes, an extension of who you are.
” We are super excited about the ISUZU adventure gear collaboration, and we are looking forward to inspiring the designers to start their own adventure gear collections within their main collections,” commented, Lucilla Booyzen, Director of SA Fashion Week.
From the bold designers:
Having started Belhauzen in 2021, Belinda Venter endeavours to share her vision of sustainable Luxury with a strong focus on comfort and style with designs that are elegant, comfortable, visually powerful and above all, timeless.
The brand derives inspiration from the effortlessly, modern women of this world. They cater to the uniqueness of every woman. Upon hearing the news about her selection to the top three, Belinda said that “For my submission into the contest, I really dove deep into understanding the ISUZU brand, their values, and their vision. I spent a lot of time researching the company, their brand voice, and found that my focus on sustainability, luxury, and boldness aligns perfectly with theirs.” Floyd Morapedi Manotoana established the Floyd Avenue Apparel brand in 2013, making his runway debut as the winner of SA Fashion Week Scouting Menswear in 2016.
Floyd Avenue Apparel reflects one's life journey, with its hardships, triumphs, love, hate, and choices directly influencing the work. The world class brand already supplies a luxury store in Atlanta, USA and is aiming to grow even further.
Asked about his approach in terms of the designs he entered, Floyd responded by saying that “We created a seamless bridge between design and a campaign. We designed our apparel in a way to give both brands maximum exposure without it looking tacky or forced.
The core and foundation of our entry was an emphasis on both the brand’s design codes to make us one.”
Starting out in the industry as a model working as a sales assistant in Bloemfontein, Ole Ledimo showcased his first collection on an SA Fashion Week runway. He launched his first House of Olé collection at South African Fashion Week in 2006.
The House of Olé specialises in bespoke, wearable art that is conceptualised and inspired by the continent.
Talking about how he was able to interpret ISUZU’s mantra of, ‘fashionable everywhere’, Ole spoke to the fact that, “at House of Olé, we have designed and dressed people from all walks of life, namely sports, politics, to Kids and bikers, Banyana Banyana, and a plethora of celebrities. It is for this reason that we look forward to this collaboration with ISUZU.”
The upcoming instalment of SA Fashion Week AW25, will be held at Melrose Arch on 26 -28 September 2024.
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