South African Fashion Week (SAFW) is always an exciting time where designers new and old, come together to display the brilliance of African design. This year was no different, with collections by veteran designers like Gert Johan Coetzee and new, upcoming talent like Tanaka Vengere of Ngano Designs. Vengere is an upcoming designer with a world of stories that come alive through their garments, and their debut collection at SAFW was surely the beginning of an exciting future in fashion.
The Birth of a Designer
Vengere was born and raised in Zimbabwe where they got their first real taste of fashion and design. Designing costumes at a local theatre was Vengere’s first experience with design and fashion construction, where the love of the craft quickly took over. Despite this passion, Vengere studied to be a veterinarian, and was en route to a career in the veterinary medicine field, but their love of fashion was still alive and well. As a result, Vengere moved to South Africa and studied for a Bachelor of Arts in Fashion at Stadio School of Fashion, where he learned the technical side of design and furthered his craft.
“[Studying fashion in Milan] gave me the push to start my brand which now exists as Ngano Designs Africa, which is now essentially a clothing brand, but my goal is to one day get further into the design realm…”
The First SAFW of Many
Vengere got a formal start at fashion in 2019, and after completing two degrees in fashion in South Africa, his sites were set on Europe. Vengere completed a Masters degree in Italy and this inspired the creation of Ngano Designs. This was a big step into a future full of the fashion and creativity that Vengere always enjoyed.
Entering into the SAFW New Talent Search was a big challenge, especially so early on for the brand, but Vengere had a vision. Bearing in mind the importance of sustainability for the brand and the competition itself, Vengere struggled with sourcing fabrics for the collection that would be suited for printing the prints he had created or that would be durable after a long time with the customer. Despite these challenges, Vengere still put on a brilliant collection with self-made patterns and intricate designs, that was worthy of the SAFW New Talent Search crown.
Resilient, Rooted, Rising: A Debut Collection
Resilient, Rooted, Rising is the debut collection from Ngano Designs for the SAFW New Talent Search competition. This competition was a new experience for the Zimbabwean designer, but the stunning collection would leave audiences none the wiser.
The collection featured many beautiful pieces with bold patterns and prints, a true testament to its afro-centric influences. The collection follows a narrative story, telling the tale of many African people who dream of achieving something and working towards it, but their circumstances do not always make that possible, which makes the need for resilience very important. This resilience in learning and trying allows people to root themselves in their story and understand their strengths and weaknesses to finally reach their potential. The potential comes in the form of rising, which details finally being able to move forward and achieve beyond the challenges and get the chance to highlight the beauty in the journey and the destination.
This is a thrilling story that is clearly influenced by Vengere’s experience in the theatre, shaping the format and the designs of the collection.
“I love stories, and for me it’s almost second nature to come up with these concepts and ideas in my head, and theatre is also a big part of pushing me into fashion, so it all makes sense to me in that way.”
Resilient, Rooted, Rising features a simple colour palette with interesting prints that add depth in texture and style. This perfectly executed collection is especially exciting as a debut collection, and its continued narrative arch makes it even more enchanting.
This collection is likely the start of a beautiful future in design where Vengere will continue to share beautiful stories through their designs and continue to spread the beauty of African design, in all of its forms, for years to come.
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6 Comments
Great collection 👌
Love the bold colors and patterns on the model❤️
Thank you for such a great piece 🙏🏽✨
[…] 2026 SAFW New Talent Search Winner Tanaka Vengere Crafts a Beautiful Story […]
This was so good to read, I’m not even into fashion but I always enjoy your work. Great work 👏
Great article, and beautiful collection! 🙂 😉
This is a great collection, props to the designer!