Nearly a decade after her runway debut, award-winning South African designer Fikile Sokhulu is bringing her distinctive aesthetic to a much wider audience with Pick n Pay Clothing.
For Fikile Sokhulu, fashion started with a sketchbook.
Growing up on Durban’s South Coast, Fikile filled her artist journal with fashion sketches long before she imagined they would become the foundation of a career. In 2018, while studying at Durban University of Technology, she made her runway debut after being selected for the SAFW New Talent Search.
Since then, her designs have appeared on platforms including Vogue, been worn by artists such as Simphiwe Dana and Holly Rey, and travelled beyond South Africa, including to Milan through the Fashion Bridges initiative.
Now, Fikile is moving from runway to retail with Summer Neiture, a new collection launching at selected Pick n Pay Clothing stores nationwide and on Pick n Pay asap! as part of the retailer’s Futurewear initiative.
The programme supports emerging South African designers through mentorship, helping them translate their creative vision into commercially viable collections. For Fikile, that has meant adapting her distinctive design language for a much broader audience without losing the qualities that define her work.
Asked to describe Summer Neiture in three words, Fikile chooses “feminine, unique and craftsmanship”. The collection draws inspiration from sunlight, open skies and the outdoors, with natural landscapes informing the prints alongside feminine silhouettes and considered details.
“Fikile came into this programme with a design language that is already fully her own: feminine, considered, and full of craftsmanship,” says renowned South African designer Gavin Rajah, who mentors the Futurewear designers. “My role has simply been to help her translate that voice into a collection that speaks to a much broader audience, without losing what makes her work distinctly hers.”
Now in its sixth year, Futurewear was conceptualised in 2020 by Hazel Pillay, Managing Executive of Pick n Pay Clothing, and Gavin. What began with two designers has grown into an established talent-development platform, attracting hundreds of applications each year.
For Fikile, the experience has been about more than creating a collection. “I’ve learnt so much during the mentoring programme, being guided through retail-oriented design, and having a strong team made it an enriching experience,” she says. “I can’t wait to see the full collection in stores, and for people to be part of this beautiful experience we’ve been crafting for months.”
And while Summer Neiture marks an exciting new chapter, Fikile is already looking ahead.
“I don’t feel I have obtained an achievement or a milestone; I think I am hopeful for what I am to achieve in the future,” she says.
From schoolbook sketches to international runways and now PnP retail, Fikile’s distinctive vision is reaching a whole new audience.
Summer Neiture by Fikile Sokhulu is available at selected Pick n Pay Clothing stores nationwide and on Pick n Pay asap!.