He is the blueprint for some of South Africa's biggest designers. Despite this, through the years, fashion designer Gavin Rajah has made explicit headlines. He was once accused by Chelsea Liu, an Asian-American designer of allegedly stealing her designs. Before that, Paul van Zyl said that Rajah allegedly stole his "pebble dress', design, as well as Lebanesedesigner Zuhair Murad, complained of plagiarism.
DESIGN WITH A PURPOSE
But far beyond that, he has made an international name for himself and helped to empower young, passionate designers from different backgrounds. He mentored four of South Africa's top designers; David Tlale,Craig Jacobs, Thula Sindi, and Thabani Mavundla, and raised over R4 million Rand to take them to Paris to showcase their work before their careers blew up.This was a turning point in the landscape of South African fashion for it was the first time that black designers gained recognition by local and international media. His passion still lies with uplifting others and the people who wear his clothes."The women I dress are always trying to bring something out in their personality and clothing and elevate their mood. I want them to go out and empower people and own their space,' he tells Zimoja. "You're not a designer If you dress a few people who can afford to pay a lot of money. You need to dress thousands. I loved my clients who arrive in Bentleys, but I'm obsessed with the clients who come to me in buses and taxis. They are the ones who originally would not have been able to afford the clothes but they follow me loyally,' he adds."Many people forget that these brands are created by people who can't necessarily access what you're doing. My partnership is giving access to people who wouldn't afford it.'
GAVIN'S LATEST VENTURE
This year, the Cape Town-based designer returns to African Fashion International (AFI). He also joined forces with a retail shop in creating quintessential beauty basics for Summer including some swimwear pieces, scented candles, lipsticks, lip glosses, eyeshadows, highlighters, and nail varnishes under the brand Futurewear, which he partnered up with them in 2018."Makeup is a form of armor in a way and people will get to experiment with different scents." Gavin sits on the advisory board for Africa at Harvard University as well as the Harvard Art Initiative at the Centre for African Studies at Harvard.Through this project, Gavin also gives emerging local designers mentorship in business and practical application of skills in a commercial environment, something he has done since his career began.
