From summer 2010, Woolworths SA Designers collection will feature fashions by selected guest designers for each season. The summer 2010 line-up features Lalesso, Sway and Thulare Monareng and will include dresses, skirts and tops. Good news for shoppers is that all these designer items will be reasonably priced, with dresses from around R450, skirts from R350, and tops from R250. Says Woolworths head of womenswear, Trevor Perren, ¡§The SA Designers at Woolworths initiative celebrates local, authentic designs. Over the years it has given us the opportunity to create a platform which gives talented South African designers the recognition they richly deserve. We¡¦re very excited about being able to make the work of these up-and-coming local designers accessible to a wider audience.¡¨ In keeping with their African roots, bold colour and print motifs are hallmarks of Woolworths summer 2010 guest designers: Sway is noted for its hand-drawn, hand-printed African graphics, while Lalesso offers a range of vibrantly coloured prints with a Kenyan influence. Thulare Monareng¡¦s designs reflect her own life story and are a fusion of the beauty, artistry and vibrancy of Africa, Europe and America. Woolworths has also announced that well-known designers Maya Prass and Stephen Quatember will be making way for the new designers. ¡§Our strategy has always been to use our SA Designers collection to promote new talent. We¡¦ve really enjoyed working with these two designers. Maya and Stephen are well established names on the South African fashion scene, and we are sure they have exciting futures ahead of them,¡¨ adds Perren. Woolworths new South African Designers guest ranges will be available from 16 August 2010 at the following stores: GAUTENG: Eastgate, Melrose Arch, Menlyn, Rosebank, Sandton; KZN: Gateway; E. CAPE: Walmer; W. CAPE: Canal Walk, Cavendish Square, Tyger Valley, V&A Waterfront. ENDS Issued on behalf of: Woolworths Issued by: liquidlingo Communications Contact: Lana Maree +27 21 424 1530 lana@liquidlingo.co.za NOTES FOR THE EDITOR „X Suga Suga accessories Woolworth¡¦s own brand of designerwear, called Suga Suga, also offers colourful costume jewellery, which compliments the spicy palette of the Suga Suga wardrobe. From long, beaded strands to statement chandelier earrings to chunky rings and stack bangles, the pieces are reasonably priced, and range from R 69.95 to R 150.00. „X Lalesso Launched by Alice Heusser and Olivia Kennaway while they were still studying fashion design at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Lalesso is noted for its relaxed, carefree, feminine and fun fashions. Their initial inspiration came during a trip to Kenya, where they were entranced by the vibrant colours and patterns of the local women¡¦s attire, known as Khanga or Lesso. They opened their flagship boutique shop in Cape Town in November 2005. Soon thereafter, their range caught the attention of U.K. clothing chain Topshop, which featured a Lalesso collection for Spring/Summer 2007 and also launched a range in 2008 in their well-known Oxford Circus store in London. Lalesso also exhibited at SA Fashion Week, the London Edge and Pret a Porter in Paris in 2007, as well as at Cape Town Fashion Week in 2008. Their Spring/Summer 2010 range launched at JOY clothing stores in the U.K. Lalesso have opened their own workshop in Diani Beach, Kenya, and also raised R250 000 for the Kenya Red Cross Fund for displaced women and children through a fashion show. „X Sway Ida Cornelia and Petra Giliomee launched Sway in 1999. Ida, Petra and Antoinette du Plessis still hand-draw the print patterns and designs Sway is known for. The team has also designed for a number of notable South African fashion designers including Maya Prass. „X Thulare Monareng Born in Soweto and raised in Swaziland, Thulare has lived and studied in the U.S.A. and Belgium. She holds a degree in Fashion Buying and Merchandising from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and interned with Belgian fashion designer Walter Bierendonk, one of the Antwerp Six. On her return to South Africa, Thulare worked as a designer and stylist on the TV show ¡¥Backstage¡¦. Her first runway collection was shown at SA Fashion Week. She was named Most Innovative Designer at the Cape Town Fashion Festival in November 2002. Her new ¡¥thuli¡¦ range reflects the cultures that have influenced her life.