Fashion educator Inez Shaw has handed Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis a handmade crochet jersey for the festive season. He will wear it at the city’s Festive Lights Switch-On on 29 November 2026.
The handover took place at a media preview evening in Cape Town on Wednesday. The City of Cape Town used the evening to test this year’s Beacon of Hope lighting display.
Shaw is a director at the Elizabeth Galloway Academy of Fashion Design in Stellenbosch. Her granny-square design won the city’s Wear the Hope Challenge.
Hill-Lewis said her entry stood out among the public submissions sent in on social media.
“I love this one because it’s handmade and it’s got the words in the back,” he said. He said it “means a lot to me that someone has gone through a lot of effort to make it”.
The mayor praised Shaw and the friends who joined her at the handover. They had pieced the squares together one by one.
Shaw built her entry around the isiXhosa word Masikhuthazane, which means “let us encourage one another”. Her staff introduced her to the word. They use it to describe how they support one another at work.
“I thought, this is my beacon of hope, my staff, and the way we pull together,” she said.
Shaw said she entered almost by chance. As a college director, she often shares creative opportunities with students and staff. When the city’s call for entries arrived, her colleagues urged her to enter one of her granny-square jerseys.
She brushed them off at first. Later she sent in her story with a photo of a past design and expected nothing. Two weeks later she got a call to say she had won.
At that stage the jersey did not exist yet. “I was like, ‘What jersey? I didn’t make a jersey’,” she said. The caller explained that she had won the competition and now had to make the garment.
Shaw called on friends, her wider community and members of the academy to finish it in time for the reveal. Each square was made on its own and then stitched to the others.
Shaw learnt to crochet from her grandmother. “I was four years old, and I had nothing to do at my grandmother’s house, so she taught me how to crochet,” she said.
She also learnt to knit, but crochet became her favourite. “I love the colours. I love being able to use my hands and still talk,” she said.
Local entertainers and other crafters joined Shaw when she handed over the jersey. Cape Minstrels performed at the dress rehearsal on Wednesday evening.
Hill-Lewis tried the jersey on at the rehearsal. The Festive Lights Switch-On takes place in Cape Town on 29 November 2026.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL Entertainment. Image: IOL Entertainment. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Entertainment desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Rirhandzu Baloyi writes about entertainment for Tzaneen Voice. Rirhandzu covers South African music, film, TV, streaming, awards and celebrity news, from amapiano and local soapies to Showmax and Netflix releases. Stories stick to what happened, who was involved and when fans can watch or listen.