Costume kingdom

FANTASY LAND: IF YOU DREAM IT, HEIDI HOLLYWOOD CAN MAKE IT

- Hein Kaiser

Some people dream of castles. Heidi du Toit built one, literally. It's on the main road of Krugersdorp's CBD. Inside, it's a fantasy land of fabric, feathers, high fashion, sequins, props, strange funkiness, and latex.

It's a collection of four decades in fashion and 30 years running Hollywood Costumes. It's a refuge and muse-house for imagination.

Du Toit lives her dream every day. “I knew what I wanted to be since I was a little girl,” she said.

“My mom was a fashion designer, and I used to love paging through her pattern books. I always knew I was going to do this.”

She grew up in Welkom, studied fashion design and eventually turned her passion into a business that now straddles across both sides of the road. Costumes on the one side, factory and couture across the street.

Her energy is infectious and people are in and out of the showrooms all the time. This is where you go to get dress up party outfits, cosplay stuff.

Actually, probably almost anything because Du Toit is like a fizzy bath bomb of creativity. Effervescent and when in her company it feels like speaking to a long lost friend, even though you may have just met.

She's a power-woman. People started calling her Heidi Hollywood a while back, and the affectionate nickname stuck.