Camps Bay High School has created a special wardrobe to ensure that all their Grade 12 pupils look and feel their best on the night of their matric dance, regardless of their financial position.
The project is a brainchild of former international model, Camilla Bernal who is also a parent at the school. Started two years, Ms Bernal is planning to drive this project for the next five years.
Principal David De Korte said they understand that the pupils come from different backgrounds and some may not have the financial capacity to buy a special matric dance dress or suit and would feel pressure around this time as they couldn’t afford outfits for the occasion.
“Camps Bay High School is a truly diverse school representative of the general demographic of the Western Cape and as such, has learners with very different financial means,” said Mr De Korte.
He said when Ms Bernal came forward with the proposal they were all overjoyed because they knew it would relieve the financial burden for some pupils.
Ms Bernal has since developed and implemented the idea with the assistance of other parents, grade heads and staff at Camps Bay High School.
The wardrobe was built up over the last few years and it is filled with dresses, suits, shoes and accessories which are available for the matrics to hire at a nominal cost.
The Camps Bay High School 2018 Wardrobe was officially launched on April 17 when Grade 11 pupils showcased some of the outfits available.
“We have already received some wonderful donations of outfits, some of which are genuine couture dresses from the likes of Jacques LaGrange, Jenni Button Philosophy, Warrick Gautier and Elrico Zarr, and most have only ever been worn once in fashion shoots or shows,” said Ms Bernal.
She said they even have a dress that former Miss South Africa, Cindy Nel, wore, but they are still looking for more donations of suits or dresses to be included in the Camps Bay High School Wardrobe.
The community have been urged to get involved by donating their gently worn evening and formal wear to this special cause. Evening gowns, dresses, suits, dress shirts, ties, bags, shoes and accessories are all welcome.
“As a local market leader in education, we are always looking for opportunities to enrich the lives of our learners and we hope that other schools will use our project as an example and recreate it at their schools. The project is still in its infancy but it has already proved to be very popular with both the learners and their parents,” said Mr De Korte.
