From Grabouw to the International Cape Town Fashion Week
By Quinton Mtyala

From the unlikeliest of places to produce the next South African fashion icon, comes a young man with a hunger for success that knows no bounds.

Grabouw roots
Linzey Davids, from Grabouw is at the crest of a wave set to propel him onto the world stage if everything goes to plan. At 22 he has made big strides in the local fashion industry with his fashion interpretations.

The youngest child in a "large family", Davids says his time as a child was very repressive one due to the conservative town, Grabouw, where he was raised.

Fashion triumphed over graphic design
"As a child, I felt pressured to conform to society's norms. I also knew that to break free from this conformity I had to do something creative," says Davids.
Fashion design triumphed over graphic design when a career to. "I had this creative flair, as a child, so what ever I did was going to be creative," he says.

Like all young boys his age Davids drew a lot, only thing was that these drawings were not of super heroes but of celebrities and their clothes.
"I really felt out of place, like something telling me that I don't belong. That environment choked me."

Afrikaans High School
Very inquisitive as a child, yet very introverted, Davids often got panic attacks which he blames on being paranoid about detail something, he admits, he still is up to this day.
Of his experience at a predominantly Afrikaans high school where sport, particularly rugby was obligatory he says it was "depressing".

Outcast
"If you showed no interest in sports at school you were an outcast. The experience was very depressing, it became too much for me, I decided to leave before my final year," says Davids.
A strong believer in the individual, Davids admits though that he loves order amidst a society in general chaos.

Sexy military uniforms
"I want to change the human perception. I believe that we can be far advanced in our thought. I love intentional order as that displayed in the military."
He says he finds military uniform sexy because "it's all closed up, you have to use your imagination to guess what lies underneath."

Not one to seek approval from others
Davids rates Gianni Versace and Coco Chanel as his role models. Both designers having had a lasting influence on determining fashion trends.
Not one to seek approval from others, Davids maintains that he always asks for opinions.

3rd prize at the Nederburg Young Designers
For the future he says that the most important things for him to work without limits and to make money.
He recently won third prize at the Nederburg Young Designers competition which drew entrants from all over South Africa.

"Making money will be the total opposite of where I come from where being rich was frowned upon," says Davids.