David Tlale's new reality The Intern premiered on SABC3 on Wednesday night (12 July) and featured the auditions followed by a reveal of the Top 12 contenders who'll be vying for the win.
Here's a close up on each of them, with bios written by themselves:
Boitumelo Selepe
30-year-old Boitumelo studied Clothing Production at Seshego FET College. She has been in the fashion industry for 8 years, self-employed. Boitumelo is adamant that fashion design is a calling for her which drives her to strive to be better and come up with new and different clothing designs.
Cyla Gonsolves
Cyla Gonsolves is a 22-year-old from Stellenbosch, Western Cape, currently pursuing her Advance Diploma at CTCFD.
As an emerging creative, Cyla believes in fashion with a cause; that fashion should start a conversation, mean something and ignite a fire within.
Denver Juries
30-year-old Denver is a 30 year old self-taught designer who started sketching at the age of 15 and commenced to sewing when he was 19 years old. Hailing from Cape Town, he says that he is inspired by a range of things including pop culture and textiles.
Frank Ramatsetse
31-year-old Frank was born and bred in Limpopo in a small village called Matlerekeng. His passion and love for fashion design began when he was in primary school, grade 7.
He started his clothing line called Candid Fashion Design before he completed matric and upon completion, enrolled with Tshwane University of Technology, where he obtained a National Diploma in Fashion Design and Technology.
Keletso Moraba
The youngest of the interns, Keletso, is 23-years-old, from Limpopo. He started designing his first garments 5 years ago and had his older sister adorn his designs.
Driven by a passion for fashion, Keletso decided to pursue his dreams and develop his craft at Central Johannesburg Collage, in 2016, and is still to graduate. His mother, a self-taught seamstress, is his inspiration and is the reason why he’s a fashion designer...
Kuena Moshoeshoe
Kuena was born and raised in Lesotho and studied Fashion Design at the University of Johannesburg where she recently graduated.
She is inspired by architecture, the human form and other forms of art such as sculptures, paintings and films. She is also inspired by fabric, she is detail orientated and enjoys manipulating patterns to make her work more interesting.
The winner will win a one year contract as Assistant Designer to David Tlale, R 200 000 cash, a Mercedes Benz CLA and a studio with equipment to the value of R 250 000
Lulama Makha
40-year-old Lulama is from a very small town called Mount Ayliff (former Transkei), in the Eastern Cape. He obtained a National Diploma in Fashion from Border Technikon in East London (now Walter Sisulu University).
Lulama has been in the Fashion industry for about 16 years. He is inspired by traditional dancers and culture. He is currently a self-employed designer.
Mamaila “Ila” Molefe
24-year-old Mamaila studied Design (Fashion and Textiles) at the Durban University of Technology for three years.
She is from Ivory Park, Midrand. Mamaila is driven by shifting traditional dynamics of dressing up and exploring challenging facets of the fashion industry through science, industrialism and nature. She’s self-employed and has been focusing on building her brand.
Michalene De La Porte
Michalene is a self-driven and determined 25-year-old from Vanderbijlpark. She obtained a National Diploma in Fashion at the Vaal University of Technology and is currently working towards obtaining a BTech degree in Fashion. Michalene strives for excellence and perfection in all she does and is particular about the finer details.
Musa Ntshalintshali
27-year-old Musa is from Protea Glen, Soweto. He has started his own brand and has a BA degree in fashion from Lisof. He is influenced by classic with a twist of progressive modern expression.
Samuel Mosala
Samuel is a self-taught designer from Durban. At 44 years of age, he has 20 years’ experience in the industry. He did a year course in pattern-making at the Durban University of Technology.
A happy client always inspires him to go out and be better - giving quality finished products. Samuel always strives to be exceptional in everything he does.
Welhemina Ratsoma
27-year-old Welhemina hails from Limpopo. She’s a self-taught designer and has been designing for 3 years. She enrolled for a short course in clothing production but unfortunately did not complete it.
Welhemina draws inspiration from a pedigree of her culture’s traditional colours, patterns and the 80's Goddess feel. She’s currently working on her brand, full time.