Here, Suzaan tells us more about her job:
How did you end up working as a fashion designer?
I won a bursary through Elle Magazine to study fashion at LISOF design school in Johannesburg. From there I started doing fashion illustration for the advertising industry and spent a couple of years styling as well.
This afforded me the opportunity to slowly build my label in my free time with the bit of extra money I was making by freelancing. In 2010 my business partner, Moira Jensen, joined the business and we built it into a company in which I could then design and produce garments full-time.
They opened up our first shop in Melville in 2011 and moved to Melrose Arch in 2012 where the flagship store is currently situated.
What is a normal day like for you?
We start the morning in the studio with a production meeting discussing deadlines for clients, clothing drops for the shop and planning around ranges or Fashion Week. Everyday is completely different.
I might be doing interviews, shoots, client fittings, patterns, cutting, grading or attending a work function. I am very hands-on in the studio and do all the master patterns and sign off on each garment myself.
We also experiment with various techniques and materials in the run-up to a show and the studio can get quite messy and chaotic at times.
What are your biggest work challenges?
Being a small and experimental label, we constantly change the systems that we work in to accommodate fabric shortages, time-frames and other obstacles. Fashion is not an easy industry and still relatively touch-and-go regarding resources in manufacturing and supplies.
Sometimes every day can be a challenge, but luckily in our case we can make snap decisions to work around them.
What is the best part about your job?
There are many aspects of my job that I love. Working with clients on wedding dresses and special occasion-wear and seeing the transformation is always satisfying.
I also love the experimental nature of the fashion shows and art projects that I am involved in, which constantly push my creative boundaries. The fun part is that I get to play on a daily basis.
Follow Suzaan Heyns on Twitter @suzaanheyns