TUTFashionDesign

This is an open call to students, emerging designers, makers and thinkers across Africa to explore the future of textiles through regeneration, material innovation and indigenous knowledge systems. Participants are invited to develop a 30cm x 30cm textile, material, or concept that responds to the question:

What does an African textile future look like when it restores ecosystems, centres local knowledges and materials, and reimagines production?

Important dates: 

13 July: Deadline for phase 1

22 July: Deadline for submission of prototype 

31 July and 1 August: Exhibition at Africa Textile Talks 

Goodluck Students!

A sketch begins with a thought, a garment begins with a story, and every great designer begins with a dream.
At Tshwane University of Technology Faculty of Arts & Design, creativity is transformed into craft, vision into innovation, and passion into purpose.
2027 Applications for Fashion Design & Technology are now OPEN.
Enter a world where silhouettes speak, textiles carry memory, and design becomes a language of culture, identity, and imagination.
Create boldly.
Inspire endlessly.
Motivate through art.
Limited space available — first come, first serve. 🧵
FutureDesigners DesignCulture FashionEducation TUTFashion 2027Applications

At the intersection of creativity, innovation, and technical excellence Fashion Design & Technology within the Department of Design Studies cultivates the next generation of designers equipped to shape the future of the industry.

We extend a warm and heartfelt welcome to our First-Year students as they begin their academic and creative journey with us. Entering university marks the beginning of intellectual growth, self-discovery, and professional formation. We are proud to welcome a new generation of thinkers, makers, and visionaries who will shape the future of art and design with purpose and integrity.

This year’s orientation was centered on Activism through the Arts a theme that challenges our students to understand creativity as more than aesthetic expression. It emphasized the role of art and design in engaging with and fostering community development, encouraging students to see themselves not only as emerging professionals, but as socially conscious contributors to the communities they inhabit.

Through this focus, students explored how the arts can address pressing social issues affecting our neighborhoods, including Gender-Based Violence (GBV), inequality, and other societal challenges. By translating these realities into thoughtful, visual narratives including the design of symbolic hats they began to understand how fashion and creative practice can serve as platforms for awareness, dialogue, and transformation.

Orientation was not simply an introduction to academic life; it was a call to responsibility. It affirmed our commitment to nurturing designers who combine technical excellence with social consciousness individuals who recognize that creativity has the power to inform, empower, and inspire meaningful change.

As we welcome 2026, we do so as a community students, lecturers, creatives, and supporters who believe in the journey as much as the outcome. This is a year to try, to fail, to learn, and to grow. To our students, may you stay curious, trust your ideas, and keep showing up even when the process feels hard. To our supporters, thank you for believing in our work and in the young designers finding their voices here. Together, we move forward with passion, discipline, and heart, shaping not just garments, but people and possibilities. Happy New Year 2026 here’s to growth, courage, and creating something meaningful together.

Award winner 🏆

GIFT NEMATEI

Best entrepreneur student of 2025

Congratulations we are proud of you 🎊

Award winner 🏆

GIFT NEMATEI

Best entrepreneur student of 2025

We are proud of you 🎊

Award winner 🏆

Bufelo Senonohi

Best overall student x3 since first year, Best pattern technology student and best creative student.

Congratulations .heavens
We are so proud of you. 🎊👏🏽👏🏽