Jan Malan

Namibian-born, Jan Malan, director of Umzingeli Productions, is one of Africa’s leading show producers. ‘Umzingeli’ means ‘hunter-gatherer’ in Xhosa and Zulu, as the company prides itself on finding and nurturing fashion and beauty talent that hails from Africa.

Since starting his show production career in 1985, his momentous work, energy and positivity towards the industry has led him to stage high profile productions in 20 countries spread over four continents.

Using his powerful knowledge of the events industry, he brainstorms truly innovative concepts and execute them professionally with an enthusiasm that can only be described as electric.

The conceptualization of M-Net’s “Face of Africa” Model Search in 1996 kickstarted a career that has since led him to 35 countries in Africa.

His endeavors have not only highlighted the beautiful women of Africa, but also exposed Africa’s fashion talent to the world.

Malan pioneered “Africa Designs” for M-Net and AngloGold, a pan – African fashion designer competition, in the year 2000. This was the first time that African designers showed on schedule at New York Fashion Week in a group show. Following this international milestone, Malan staged five more shows for designers of African descent on schedule at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York between 2001 and 2012.

Noticing his talent for organization and eye for detail he was asked to serve as a venue manager for IMG in 2001 and 2002 under the guidance of New York Fashion Week founder, Fern Mallis. Not one to sit back, he applied his new knowledge and magic to the “Fairlady South African Fashion Awards” (The Catherine’s) in 2003 and subsequently won a Golden Loerie (The South African Advertising Awards) for it.

Malan is constantly looking for fresh and captivating venues for many of his shows, which have been held in unique locations such as train stations, art galleries, city halls and theatre spaces.

He produced shows at various fashion weeks across the continent including South African, Cape Town, Durban, Joburg and Africa Fashion Week, as well as Mozambique Fashion Week and Swahili Fashion Week in Tanzania.

Further afield he directed all shows at Delhi Fashion Week in India for two consecutive seasons in 2008/9.

But regardless of an impressive client list, which includes names such as Elton John and Tyra Banks, Malan has continued his passion for charity work giving of his time to produce shows for the Witwatersrand Hospice, The Organ Donor Foundation, The South African Federation for Mental Health and most recently, United Colours of Fashion in New York. The organization saw fit to honor him with a “Producer of the Year Award” for 2012.

Some of his proudest moments includes being appointed as a goodwill ambassador and show director for Sun International’s “Positive Rocks”, official producer for the “Catwalk the World” initiative by the UN World Food Programme and his current membership of the “36 Boutiques Style Council,” South Africa’s premier online retailer based in Cape Town.

In 2012 he superbly produced 10 events for Mercedes-Benz that was held throughout South Africa. He returned to New York to stage a milestone standalone show for David Tlale on schedule at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

Umzingeli Productions saw out the year by successfully producing the Hugo Boss Spring/Summer 2013 show in Cape Town.

 

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:

And the list continues to grow………

© 2012-2016 United Colors of Fashion, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, EIN 38-3847014
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