Celebrity fashion designer Gert-Johan Coetzee plans to grow the South African fashion industry through the Gert-Johan Coetzee bursary programme.
“Every year we try to do something for the country of fashion, and I believe the youth of our country is our most important asset. We have to mould and sculpt the youth into the future leaders of tomorrow. We have a bursary programme that has been running of the past seven years to great success.”
The North West School of Design Fashion Design course worth over R 180 000.00 provides a broad-spectrum of knowledge that provides graduates with extensive knowledge in fashion illustration, apparel construction, pattern drafting and manipulation and computer aided design, as well as fashion retail.
Gert-Johan Coetzee believes to give back to the community, and his two annual bursaries, one for Fashion Design and Fashion Communication, at his alma-mater, North West School of Design will grant two talented individuals to pursue their dreams in fashion also.
The bursary is valued at over R 180 000.00 , and it includes tuition for three years, as wellas a sewing machine (Bernette – Chicago 5 sewing machine) sponsorship from Bernina SA.
Acer Africa also came on board sponsoring the winner with an Asprire A315-51 I5 laptop. The value of the laptop is over R10 000.00
How to apply
Before applying, applicants should familiarise themselves with the course and what it offers:
Fashion Design. For more information on courses and qualifications, please go to www.nwsd.co.za/full-time.
To apply for this bursary, entrants, should complete the online bursary application through the website and submit the supporting documents as specified.
The closing date for the competition is on 11 October 2021, whereby semi-finalists will be selected by Gert-Johan Coetzee and telephonically contacted by North West School of Design by the 19th of October 2021.
The winner of the bursary will complete their studies of three years at the North West School of Design in Klerksdorp with fully-paid tuition. The winner of the bursary must complete a minimum of two internships per year at the Gert-Johan Coetzee studios during term-breaks.
1. The theme for the bursary is Style Tribes: Subcultures. Definition:“in any organised society, people often lean to a specific style or tribe or subculture. A fashion subculture is a group of individuals that dress in a distinctive style to show their place in a fashion society. “
In fashion there are many dominating subcultures that influence and inspire designers. A few examples of this include, Grunge, Preppy, Minimalist, Boho, Street style, E-girl and Power Dressers.
2. Applicants must submit the following:
2 Fashion Designs based on any style tribe including fashion sketches. These sketches must be A4 in colour, and uploaded to the online application.
The designs must not be larger than 5MB each.
A Mood Board with a collage depicting which subcultures and aesthetics inspired your designs. This document must also be uploaded, no larger than 3 MB.
Once this is completed, the semi-finalists will be telephonically contacted by Charles Oosthuizen of North West School of Design by 19 October 2021.
The semi-finalists will then receive a second assignment to be completed by 27 October 2021. With this assignment, they will be given a series of questions by Gert-Johan Coetzee to answer in video format.
The next assignment will be handed to the semi-finalists and 2 November 2021 will be the deadline for thisassignment. 1. Thereafter 10 finalists will be selected and they will compete for the bursary winners of the competition.
2. Finalists will then be notified telephonically after the 6th of November 2021, who the respective winner for each of the bursaries will be. These two winners will then commence their studies at North West School of Design in January 2025.
Lastly the bursary is open to all Grade 12 learners and the general public with a valid Grade 12 certificate. Applicants should also be a South African Citizen and fluent in English. The laptop and sewing machine must be returned to North West School of Design, should winner quit their course. Prizes are not redeemable for cash.