Rebecca Jackman
JESSICA Ross could be “the hottest new name” in Cape Town fashion.
She is one of four fashion students, and the only one from Cape Town, chosen to take part in the African Fashion International (AFI) Fastrack incubator programme, devised to accelerate the careers of a handful of lucky – and talented – designers. As part of the programme she is serving a three-month internship with top designer Gavin Rajah, with the potential of employment after this.
And, just for fun and because she has some modelling experience, she’s walking the runway in one of Rajah’s 77 looks at the opening tonight of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Cape Town, for which she helped design details.
Ross, 22, said she always wanted to be a fashion designer. When she attended open days at fashion colleges in Grade 9 she knew “This is it!”
Before attending the Cape Town College of Fashion Design, she focused on learning how to use Photoshop, graphic design and any skills that would benefit her in the fashion industry.
After a gap year in which she travelled to Israel on a learning programme, as well as spent time on a kibbutz and a stint working at a horse ranch assisting with autistic children, she returned to begin her career in fashion.
“I couldn’t wait to put all my effort into design.”
A classically trained dancer, Ross is also a qualified hip hop teacher and competed in the Good Hope hip hop national championship last month. She brought the discipline and work ethic of dance into her blossoming career in fashion.
Rajah said a good work ethic went a long way in the industry. Many design school graduates entered the industry and “suddenly have nervous breakdowns” because they were designing a lot more than five outfits a year.
He said he dragged his interns through every process so they learnt new techniques and “unlearn” any bad habits because it was “so diverse” going from a classroom to the business environment. It was necessary to train young people, to produce good designers.
“I try to teach them to play to their strengths, but to strengthen their vulnerabilities,” Rajah said.
When the internship is complete, Ross and fellow Fastrack designers Rich Mnisi, Tuelo Ngunyuka and Naazeen Kagee will design capsule collections for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Africa runway in October. One of the four will win the title of Young Designer of the Year at the AFI Africa Fashion Awards.
Ross wants to make clothes that “sell well” because they are comfortable, chic and sophisticated, but fun. For her upcoming collection she wants to incorporate all that, but says she has to wait for the brief from AFI before she can proceed.