While teenagers and youth are keen on Korean and Japanese culture, music, fashion, clothes like kawaii onesies, unicorn tops, catty bras etc., the older generation keep their eyes on high fashion. By the way, it prevailed again as Sanlam SA Fashion Week Summer kicked off in Johannesburg in August with fifty local designers launching their collections on the catwalk and many bright new talents jostling for attention at the retail pavilion’s 120 stalls. Behind the scenes M·A·C South Africa’s Senior Makeup Artist, Liz van der Merwe, fresh from Milan Fashion Week where she collaborated with the M·A·C PRO Team on fashion grande dame, Vivienne Westwood, and Stella McCartney’s collections among others, made her debut as the first local senior make-up artist to head up Sanlam SA Fashion Week’s make-up team as part of the company’s commitment to develop local artistry talent. Equally on display was Redken 5th Avenue NYC’ passion for fashion as the official fashion hair stylist using the dream teams from Franco International, Haircrew and Isjon, whilst the up to the minute coverage of all things hot and happening on the SA fashion front by ETV.
Jess Sutherland from LISOF design school won the Five Roses Student Design Competition whilst Anisa Mpungwe, who is currently working as a junior designer with Black Coffee, walked off with this year’s Elle New Talent Award. The coveted prize includes the opportunity to gain a fantastic insight into the disciplines of fashion chain retailing with the design of a commercial range under the mentorship of Mr. Price as well as the opportunity to show a full collection at next year’s SSAFW 2009/10 Summer Collections. According to one of the judges, Dion Chang it is reassuring to note that for the past couple of years, the young designers making it into these finals, have either been working under an established designer or working in the commercial side of the industry. It is this mentorship and experience component which increasingly is giving the Elle New Talent competition a particular relevance in the industry right now. The hugely respected Strangelove duo, Ziemek Pater and Carlo Gibson, came out tops in the high voltage Tropika@Play Style Wars competition that pitted eight designers against each other in a mad dash to make garments in less than five minutes using unconventional materials. As part of their prize, the Strangelove pair will now go on to design a range under the Tropika@Play label to be showcased at the Sanlam SA Fashion Week in addition to attending next year’s New York, Paris and London Fashion Weeks.
Another exciting win went to Scelo Ntuli and Maritza Veer who became the first Samsung Mobile Icone Modéle competition winners at a ritzy party on the eve of SSAFW. Having since strutted their stuff on the ramps of SSAFW, they will now represent the Samsung Mobile brand for at least a year, including being featured in various Samsung Mobile above and below the line campaigns, before jetting off to take up the $75 000 contracts with Next in New York which was part of their winning package. Here’s wishing them every success as they aim to follow in the sparkly footsteps of leading Next lights such as SA’s Tanya Fourie, Molly Simms, and Petra Nemkova. 5FM Jocks trade their mics for the catwalk Recycling old T-shirts received a high fashion jolt as the 5FM/LISOF (Reinvent)5 fashion show saw 5FM personalities KB, Koula, Sureshnie Rider, Poppy Ntshongwana, Damon Kalvari, and Erica Elle happily walk their talk in recycled T-shirt designs creatively whisked together by the clever LISOF contingent.
Sanlam continues to invest in fashion’s future Sanlam’s continued commitment to the holistic development of the fashion industry, saw them announce their second year of involvement with top SA design school, LISOF, with the sponsorship of bursaries to four deserving students – Faaiza Chohan, Khosi Nkosi, Sarah Badat and Bonolo Diseko.
“Sanlam firmly believes that the fashion industry, with its focus on individual expression, offers us a natural fit. It is also an industry dominated by small and medium-sized businesses which, collectively, have major job creation potential and where our involvement can have a significant positive economic impact,» says Lerato Molebatsi, Sanlam’s head of Group Corporate Social Investments. SA design coming up roses Following the gorgeous Five Roses-sponsored show (complete with delectable boxed cupcakes on all the seats) at SSAFW, Miss Scarlet designer Jacky Lucking and Hermanna Rush’s Jacqui Corfield and Nicole Dersley have teamed up to open their first stand-alone boutique in Johannesburg in October. The trio has taken over as the new owners of Coat in The Parks Centre in Parkwood where their respective SSAFW collections are sure to be snapped up. Mantsho designer, Palesa Mokubung, still riding high on the impact that her range made as part of the Five Roses show too, took her collection off to the 73rd Annual Fashion Forward International Thessaloniki show in Thessalokini, Greece in September to participate as the only SA designer. Attended by more than 215 000 visitors from Europe and the Americas, it proved to be good for business and Palesa will record her biggest production run ever when she sends an order of twelve pieces taken from her sixteen-piece range to the trendy Boukla Boukla boutique.
A buyer from Cyprus has also expressed keen interest in importing Mantsho to Greece and Cyprus. The media, including Fashion TV, World Fashion TV, Harpers Bazaar and other local Greek TV stations, were equally interested in what Palesa had to offer. Lunar’s Karen Ter Morshuizen, who exhibited her collection on the prestigious Esthetica pavilion at the recent London Fashion Week, too, was flying the proudly SA flag high. Esthetica, which annually receives thousands of applications from around the world, is a uniquely exclusive exhibition which gives equal weighting to design caliber and ethical considerations and as a result has an extremely rigorous screening process which audits various aspects of a designer’s business, ranging from environmental issues to fair labor practice. Karen, who was one of only thirty-four designers worldwide, and the only South African designer, invited to exhibit, believes the exhibition was a huge success, both in terms of making excellent contacts with international agents and buyers as well as media interest. The cherry on top is that Estethica organizers have already invited Lunar back for the event. Also spotted during London Fashion Week, was New York-based South African designer Alexander Koutny who caused more than a gasp of awe for his Monolithia summer collection with its exquisitely graphics, dark silhouettes which he exhibited at the The Royal Acagraphicsdemy of the Arts.
Great news for Stoned Cherrie fans as its flagship store has recently been renovated. The new store represents the beginning of the next seven years of Stoned Cherrie’s life cycle. Nkhensani Nkosi, founder, and the creative director says, “The renovation has injected new energy into Stoned Cherrie, inspired by the enchanting expression of the Tsonga People. The shop has been the perfect backdrop to our Summer Collections 08. The collaboration with the DAC Fashion Fusion Project including our crafters from Polokwane has been a roaring success.
Finally, and hot of the press, happy news, is that the delightful Story summer collection, which many of us fell in love with, had an equally seductive influence on a Los Angeles boutique owner who spotted it on SA’s very own on-the-button IFashion industry website and immediately placed a huge order. The fact that Sanche, who is one of the designers involved with the SSAFW/Department of Arts and Culture Fashion Fusion project, has incorporated a fair measure of quirky input from the crafting community of North West Province, is only all the more reason to celebrate. Editor’s Choice SSAFW approached South Africa’s top fashion editors and fashionistas for their favorites on the ramp. Here are their choices of SSAFW’s top Summer Collections 08/09: Abigail Betz Amanda Laird Cherry Black Coffee Clive Rundle Colleen Eitzen Ephymol I Love Leroy Julian Couture KLûK CGDT Lunar Mantsho Terrence Bray Tiaan Nagel Thumbs up for SSAFW The hugely unglamorous hard work and sheer slog that goes into staging an event of this magnitude, all seems worth it when a little praise is garnered along the way particularly from quarters we hold in high regards. Two such items that went a long way to re-energising our spirits were: The Mail and Guardian editor, Ferial Haffajee’s comment on local design as seen at the SSAFW, as”being an absolute treat and a snappy look at an industry that is coming of age and has beaten the national tendency toward the mediocre.”And whilst she freely admits to talking as a consumer, not a fashion expert, she goes on to describe what she saw as showing a”self-confident aesthetic that was a treat to view,” and concluding with a”now to get some of that spirit back into our public life.
“Local fashion industry e-zine, IFashionís reader poll which delivered the following results: Sanlam SA Fashion Week was… 76. 9% Awesome! 23. 1% Whatever. 0% Terrible! Diarise! Designer duo Malcolm Kluk and Christiaan Gabriel Du Toit of KlûK CGDT are opening their second store in Parkhurst, Johannesburg. Watch this space for more information! Hot new spot With its state of the art permanent lighting system, advanced sound equipment, seating for over 300, bar areas, a 20 meter removable runway and large backstage area, The Runway which opened in the former Fairweather Coat factory in Woodstock in January this year, is the mother city’s hottest new spot for fashionable functions. Clients who have already lined up to use this exciting space include M. A. C South Africa, Students Village, IN-House IVTM, Damelin College, Confident Events and Amazing Spaces. The Runway has also partnered with Act Cape Town to offer the modeling industry one-on-one and comprehensive model training courses. International highlight Junya Watanabe does Africa brilliantly at his recent Spring/Summer ready-to-wear collections held at Paris Fashion Week.