Young designer, Jenna Engeldoe, does it all...

~JENNA ENGELDOE~

 By: Barbara Maregele

Playing dress-up with her friends, dictating what each person should wear, she could only dream that one day she would watch models strut down the catwalk wearing her designs.

Flying the flag high and proud for South African fashion, 28- year-old, Jenna Engeldoe, a young designer from Penlyn Estate in Lansdowne, Cape Town is striving for greatness in the tough Fashion industry.

Jenna Engeldoe

Best known for her momentous achievements and unique approach towards the advancement of South African fashion, Engeldoe’s passion for design is illuminated through her work as showcased during the ‘SL Magazine show’ hosted during the 2004  Johannesburg Fashion Week. 

Jenna Engeldoe, a former student at the prestigious Design Academy of Fashion (DAF) in Woodstock, Cape Town, a programme providing its students the opportunity and platform to express their ideas artistically through design.

Her unique designs and interpretation of city life and its intensity, won her the 2003 Smirnoff Fashion Award, being selected from a group of 20 designers from all around South Africa.

“My time at DAF helped me to achieve dreams that I never thought possible by winning the Smirnoff Fashion Award in 2003. Whenever I needed assistance or guidance even after I gradated, Design Academy was always there for me and for that I will always be grateful,” Jenna Engeldoe said.

Her multicolored and multilayered sexy sporty designs captured the true essence of city life as well as allowing her own personality to shine through her pieces.



Her inspiration board



“I was inspired by street artists. My designs were sexy, but not too feminine as they had a sporty look,” she said during a previous interview with City Press.

She admits that since winning that award, many doors have been opened to her. As of August 2007- October 2010 she became one of the trainee Truworths Buyers, a job coveted by numerous young ladies in the fashion industry. However, feeling “boxed-in” by the company, she felt that it was time break away and once indulge in her desire to design.

‘Originality is Freedom’ is the name of her new jewellery label she opened earlier this year where various styles of earrings, necklaces, bracelets and watches are designed.

“I create pieces that do not have a short life span, but rather a timeless piece that can live with you forever. I love working with leather, crystals, semi precious stones, metals and glass beads to incorporate different textures that enhance the season,” she explained.

South Africa can look forward to her new ideas and looming ‘come back’ to clothing design. Regardless the season, Jenna Engeldoe’s designs embrace unique fashion expression and makes room for new fusions within the design industry.

REFERENCES:

http://www.joburgnews.co.za/

Jenna Engeldoe