Last month, BUBBLEGUM X officially launched.
BUBBLEGUM X is an initiative by Bubblegum Club and The Bubblegum Foundation aimed at advancing Africa’s ever-growing cultural influence in global creative scenes. This initiative is a means of leveraging and transforming this expanding cultural and artistic influence into developing sustainable creative industries on the African continent and fostering creative businesses that operate beyond our continental borders.
This year’s exchange — BUBBLEGUM X Daily Paper — is focused on the fashion industry, and will see Bubblegum Club partnering with the leading youth fashion label and organisation, Daily Paper, to offer an emerging designer a fully funded month-long internship at Daily Paper’s HQ in Amsterdam.
After receiving all of the applications the Jury selected a top 10, announced on 20 July. Thereafter, public voting began as a way to narrow down the applicants. Now, Bubblegum X Daily Paper is proud to introduce the top 5 finalists!
Adesewa has always aspired to work with Daily Paper ever since it was established in 2012. As the years have passed, their admiration for the brand has not dwindled but instead intensified. Adesewa states, “Daily Paper shifted my perspective on what is possible, building a community, crafting well-thought-through designs while maintaining quality, is all achievable.”
Riyaadh Ismail began by upcycling unconventional materials into complete garments, and later creating smaller capsule collections. They’ve styled for music videos for the likes of AKA, as well as costume designing for people such as Pearl Thusi. In January 2021 Riyaadh founded Riyaadhs Yaad, a luxury streetwear brand with its core beliefs derived from Islam, and its main ideology stemming from South African culture story-telling through finely crafted, innovated garments.
Minenhle Memela & Malcolm Mokgope
Khumo Morojele is a South African aspiring designer and creative director who grew up in the East of Johannesburg. Currently focusing on exploring and experimenting with new and innovative design approaches through sustainable practices and initiatives, where the narrative is expressed through photography, film and even the virtual world. Khumo recalls growing up and always being surrounded by creatives, whether it be their dad working in the film industry, their mom owning a womenswear boutique, or just hanging out with their friends that have a deep love for hip hop and clothing.
The idea of being able to create something new in the fashion world is a constant objective for Kgothatso, but they believe there are certain foundation skills and knowledge that you need to learn within certain spaces and around certain people. Kgothatso states that, “being able to peek into a big brand such as Daily Paper may equip me with those foundation skills and knowledge that I will need in my fashion journey”.
We wanted to thank everyone who voted for our top 5 finalists. As well as everyone who applied for the internship, the Jury was very impressed by the submissions and overwhelmed by the positive responses.
