Walters and Mabusela took home the title of Hottest Young Fashion Designer in Style Squad’s Girls and Boys categories respectively, affording them the opportunity to design their own clothing ranges that would be available to purchase from all of the retailers 600 stores across Southern Africa.

Janine van Deventer, marketing manager at Ackermans, says, “We were very impressed with these young individuals, and believed in their talent. We wanted to recognise and reward their ability by giving them their own clothing ranges, which would be available for others to buy in our stores.”

Their limited edition ranges – available in stores during October and November – performed exceptionally well, with most of the range selling out in four weeks, making it one of Ackermans’ best-selling lines of 2016.

Launched by Ackermans in 2014, Style Squad is an annual competition for South Africa’s young children, between the ages of nine and 15, who are encouraged to showcase their creativity in clothing. This year’s winners received an assortment of prizes including a tablet with 12 months of data, a year’s worth of clothing vouchers, monthly gifts, and stationery.

Finalists performed a series of challenges that would test their design skills and cognitive abilities, which they documented on the Style Squad blog. The design winners – Walters and Mabusela – were flown to Ackermans headquarters in Cape Town for several days to work on their ranges.

Once at the headquarters, Walters and Mabusela attended design workshops and researched trends with the buying team while receiving a holistic view of the production process, ultimately creating their own ranges with the assistance of the Ackermans team. They also took part in a photoshoot to promote their respective ranges.

Walters, winner of the Girls category, says, “It was so much fun designing the clothing and meeting the Style Squad team. I am so much more confident now and all my friends love my designs. Of course, mom told my teacher about it and now they have put pictures of my clothing designs up in the classroom.”

Van Deventer, says, “We are humbled to have had the opportunity to bring value to the lives of these children through giving them a platform to showcase their creativity and skill. South African children have amazing talent and we want to share and celebrate it with all South Africans. Ty and Keya are thrilled with the outcome, and we look forward to doing it all again for Style Squad 2017.”

For more information, visit www.ackermans.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook.