It’s time for South African creatives to shine as the Nando’s Hot Young Designer (HYD) talent search is back and invites them to chase their dreams.
Since 2014, the best young creative talents in the country have shared their designs for lights, patterns, benches and servers, which Nando’s interior designers across the world have gone on to utilise in hundreds of casas (as the brand calls its restaurants) – linking young designers with commercial opportunities.
Some of the previous winners of the competition include Nikhil Tricam and Nindya Bucktowar of Kalki Ceramics, who won in 2022 for their flora-inspired Fynbos Server, while 2020 and 2018, respectively, saw Katlego Tshuma and Agrippa Mncedisi Hlophe taking home the title of Hot Young Designer.
The first edition of the talent search was a shared win between Thabisa Mjo and Samantha Foaden.
The competition is back this year for talented designers to showcase outstanding designs to unlock opportunities for mentorship and business development, like Mjo of Mash T Design Studio, who recently participated in Dolce & Gabbana’s “Gen D” exhibition at Milan Design Week 2024.
Ten finalists, who will be chosen by a carefully curated panel of judges against the application criteria, will go on to participate in a design immersion followed by a pitch session.
Thereafter five designers will be shortlisted to participate in The Laboratory of Learning – a focused mentorship and business programme linked to prototyping their design.
A finalist will be chosen based on the quality of their participation in The Lab and will go on to access more in-depth, one-on-one business mentorship.
For more information on the competition and how to enter, visit the Clout/SA site. Entries close on June 18.