EXCITEMENT BUILDS AS VDJ FASHION PROGRAMME ENTERS NEXT PHASE

WITH just over two weeks to go to the 2021 Vodacom Durban July, “Africa’s greatest horseracing event”, the excitement and tension leading up to the big raceday on Saturday, July 3 is building – both on and off the track.

Rainbow Bridge won a tightly-contested Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge last weekend to add spice to Champion‘s Season. It now sits at the top of the list of 31 entries vying for a berth in the final line-up of 18 runners and two reserves that will be announced next Tuesday.

Next week sees the frenzy ahead of the Vodacom Durban July heighten, with the traditional Vodacom Durban July Gallops at Hollywoodbets Greyville Racecourse early on Thursday morning.

Off the track, the buzz of excitement has centred on the fashion programme, where the three pre-raceday fashion elements have all progressed to the next exciting phase.

The judges have just released the shortlist of 10 KZN fashion design students to progress to the finals of the Vodacom Durban July Young Designer Award – trimming them down from the 20 names released after the first round of judging.

It will be a whirlwind week of photoshoots and media opportunities for the students, who will wait excitedly for the top three to be announced on Tuesday, June 29. The eventual winner will be announced on the day of the big race.

The other two components of the fashion programme are non-competitive and pure fashion showcases.

This week, the five designers hand-picked for the Vodacom Durban July Invited Designer Showcase, presented by Durban Fashion Fair, completed their raceday ensembles in perfect time for the studio photographers.

For their fans and admirers, the first public showing of these creations and the release of the studio images are an annual highlight.

For the eight emerging Durban designers cherry-picked to be part of the Durban Fashion Fair Rising Stars Collection, sharing the photographer’s studio with the luminary Invited Designers will be a career milestone and a memory to cherish.

For fashion fans, these three components of the Vodacom Durban July fashion programme provide a creative feast. Fashionistas can absorb the way the talented designers interpret the “Birds of a Feather” theme and then, equally importantly, convert that concept into the reality of their own finished garments.

Racing fans, socialites and fashionistas have accepted that the 2021 Vodacom Durban July will be run “behind closed doors” – and that they will be watching and sharing in the event from home on the day of the race.

That, however, has not dampened the buzz of anticipation ahead of “Africa’s greatest horseracing event” on Saturday, July 3.