Discontinued dress fabric blooms afresh!
5 October 2020
In March 2018, Berg River Textiles informed La Rochelle Girls’ High School that their manufacturing plant in Paarl would be closing down, which meant that the school’s floral dress fabric would no longer be printed locally. Despite the disconcerting news, the school used the opportunity to return to its roots and develop a fabric in the original 1960-design and colourway.
To pay homage to the material and in collaboration with the 160th birthday celebrations of the school, the 12 Miss La Rochelle Finalists had to create a garment using the discontinued school dress fabric for their crowning event. Unfortunately, this event had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The crowning took place online and a decision was made that each finalist was worthy of the coveted crown.
The Miss La Rochelle theme for 2020 was A Beautiful Heart. The Finalists were involved in a community garden project at Charleston Hill Secondary, as well as a house of safety in Stellenbosch. They completed twelve hours of community service and each contestant raised R3 000 for charity, of which R12 500 was donated to the Burre Burger Drought Relief Fund and R12 500 to the L' Abrie De Dieu Safe House in Stellenbosch.