DESIGNER STUDIO
Making dream dresses a reality Fashion designer Asanda Madyibi may have fallen into designing clothes, but with her natural talent, good eye and attention to detail it’s no surprise that celebrities are clamouring to be dressed by her. Passionate, down to earth and with plenty of creative flair, Asanda’s star just keeps shining! Claudia Pillay gets the low down on what it takes to succeed in this highly competitive field
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What’s the biggest lesson you learned at Sun Goddess? It introduced to me dealing with, shall we say, “elite and pedantic clients”. One of the greatest lessons I learned was how to deal with people. As much as that gave me a good grounding, I still had to learn that the buck stops here, with me. It’s a whole different story when it’s your name on the door. Now I realise just how big a role accountability plays in my life. How did you get into wedding gowns? Wedding gowns were a natural progression for me, because for me custom making things is the same as working at the couture level, which is similar to the
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wedding dress level. The couture level, like the wedding dress level, is where a client gives you a theme and you must produce a fairytale. Everyone wants to be an individual but you want to be a well-crafted, beautifully finished individual. You want your style to reflect who you are and you want to look good, have something that flatters your best assets and downplays your worst. I did my first wedding dress after I’d left Sun Goddess, for an ex-colleague. Then I did another white dress for a friend, and there was no turning back. What do you love most about doing wedding gowns? Designing a wedding gown is an incredible feeling! It doesn’t matter how rough the journey is, because when the bride sees the dress and can’t believe you did this, and even you can’t believe this is your work, it’s such an amazing moment. There is also something magical about fulfilling someone’s dreams for such a big day. I love that one day grandchildren are going to look at these
Pictures: Dion Viljoen
hat made you want to be a fashion designer? It wasn’t a conscious decision, it just happened. I knew I wanted to do something with art but when I got accepted for fashion design, I just went with it. It helped that I’d grown up with my granny’s sewing around me, so I knew how to do it properly. Studying fashion, I gradually fell in love with it as I thoroughly enjoyed all the exploring and experimenting. However, my first job was a drag as there wasn’t much creative expression – I just worked on men’s clothes. But I embraced my next job, at Sun Goddess, and there my love affair with fashion took flight! That’s where the fashion-is-art concept came alive for me and I could unleash my creative side.