After a four-year break, a trio of young people decided to revive a youth upliftment project which offers a platform for undiscovered talent.
Kashif Jacobs, 27, Nabeelah McCallum, 19 and Tashriqa Powell, 19, teamed up to breathe new life into Mofunk Productions, which hosts fashion shows, variety shows, and give aspiring models, fashion designers, photographers and videographers a chance to show their mettle.
Mofunk Productions was started 13 years ago, and Kashif was among its first members. However, it closed its doors four years ago.
Last year it was revived under the new management of Kashif, Nabeelah and Tashriqa.
The team is gearing up for its latest fashion show, which will be held on Friday December 7 at Garlandale High School’s hall. Their rehearsals, which are in full swing, is being held at the South African Cape Coloured Corps Regimental Association in Silvertown.
Said Nabeelah: “We are hosting our annual fashion show, where we showcase different talent as well as different local clothing brands.We host a variety of fashion-forward events throughout the year, and we have worked with Hip-Hop Indaba, the IIE Varsity College, as well as The Forever Young Emporium store, to name a few. All funds raised are donated to charities of our choice within our community, which is in Athlone.”
Kashif used to be among the models for Mofunk, before taking over the running of it.
“I learnt everything from Ishaam Taliep, who ran it previously. It was from him that I got my passion from. The vision we have is to empower and inspire the youth, and to keep them off the streets. I felt the urge to revive it, and now we are bringing the funk back,” Kashif said.
Last year, they started with nine young people, but by the time they hosted their fashion show, a total of 50 participated. Although the show is only in December, the rehearsals, which are held every weekend, started in March already. Models from the age of 13 to 21 years participate in the event.
Tashriqa pointed out that the fashion show rehearsals are to give many of the young people a chance to escape from the pressures of life.
“They come here to chill for three hours. Here they are happy and come out of their shell. Sometimes their home life is not great and here they can escape,” she said.
Kashif said ramp is available to all those interested in modelling.
“We don’t charge anybody – not even the designers. Also, one cannot have empowerment and hold auditions. We welcome anybody who is interested, We don’t reject anybody. People have a perceived idea of what makes a perfect model and we would like to thrash that idea. We just want young people to believe in themselves and to not limit themselves,” he said.
For tickets to the show, or to get involved with Mofunk, contact Nabeelah at 079 318 9941.