Sibulele Dyi

What does your company do?

Sibu'nAco is a company that was established by my sister - Akhona Dyi and I (Sibulele Dyi). We are stylists, wardrobe managers, styling consultants and have a physical store in Durbanville, Cape Town. Our services are targeted at women, and have built a community in the space. We assist woman in their various role take care of their wardrobes, a model that is not readily available for the 'average' woman in South Africa. Our services are not only for the wealthy and the famous but for every woman. We're in the business of fashion in an African landscape and that includes the education of style and fashion which we do through our monthly workshops. We also style productions and televisions sets. We are in the business of fashion and women.

What is your biggest success?

We have managed, as a team of two to procure a partnership with Miss world South Africa since the inception of the pageant in 2023. We are the official stylists for the brand, this included styling the top 10 in the competition for all their shoots and major events in the past two years. The most noteworthy part we played, as the SIbu'nAco team (which consisted of the two owners - my sister and I), has been styling the pageant live on stage when the finale of the competition was braodcasted on sabc. This included liaising with South African designers, telling the story and vision of the pageant, aligning with the broadcasting requirements, doing all of this with a limited budget. We were proud of the end result and the celebration of women that took place on stage over the two years. We subsequently styled the Miss World SA title holder in india, in both years, at the global competition.

What has been your biggest hurdle?

The biggest hurdle has been finding funding and financial investment. Fashion can often be forgotten that it is apart of art. Telling the story of who the people it represents are. As Africans we have often been told who we are, and never get to tell our story. In fashion we tell this story by movement, colour, beading, societal changes that are reflected in our everyday living and clothing, interpretation of feminism in softness and hardness, hard truths, myths and fabrications. Such is the depth of fashion. Its Anthropology. Its also business. Often its hard to invest in the beginning of a movement and I have found this to be true. To move our vision to the next stage, we needed financial investment and have found this difficult to obtain.