This is the big one you have all been waiting for. SA fashion took place from 16 – 20 Feb. After a year’s hard work designers got to show case their best designs in this 5-day extravaganza which was said to be amazing, not only the designers but each venue gave the viewers a different feel and made the clothes come alive to do the talking.
Day 1
A few of the winners at Fastrack showcased their youthfulness and that they are not afraid of change.
Kicking off Tuesday evening, designer Kutloano Mokolomme showed us big bold and blue. Voluminous hemlines, frills and interchangeable garments. Mokolomme chose to use the stiff shiny silk to show the metamorphosis of his garments. Models came out with gowns that transformed into elegant dresses with softer fabrics against the taffeta background.
Of the other designers for the evening herewith some of the highlights:
Jessica Sutherland used transition as her design idea.
Laura Kass went for traditional African prints in modern silhouettes.
Day 2
The themes for day 2 were Diversity & Regeneration.
Suzaan Heyns used the Bus Factory as the backdrop for her collection. Layers, with asymmetrical cuts and textured fabrics translated the theme of human anatomy. Heyns reinforced the theme by playing a video clip of surgery being performed on a garment instead of a human. Variations of nude colours, brown, grey & black were used. “The colours we used were based on skin tone” said Heyns.
Errol Arendz showed us the late 80’s early 90’s with touches of prints, lace and loads of fur draped over black & gray dresses and colourful leggings. Arendz described his collection as “sleek and glamorous with delicate military touches”. Unfortunately the military was no where present, perhaps that is why he uses the term delicately. Although I am not too crazy about this collection, I have to ask “where can I get a pair of those shoes?”
[Image via iFashion]
Malcolm Kluk and Christiaan Gabriel Du Toit took us on an old fashioned fantasy. The venue, Rand Club, of course leant itself to the fantasy of the collection.
"We started with Baroque, we love the era and its grandeur," Kluk elaborated after the show, "but there's also so much minimalism happening at the moment, so we wanted to go a little more tribal but in a very grand and sophisticated way."
The show began with kimonos, heavy & light textiles, paisley and lots of colour, it was evident that there were some Asian and oriental influence.
"We found old clothes that had been thrown out because they were torn; it's kind of like 'one man's trash is another man's treasure'," Kluk added, "The workmanship and colours were so beautiful we wanted to use them in a new way." In the duo’s method of regeneration to this day’s reoccurring theme they also added "Regeneration doesn't have to mean 'new', it can just mean bringing things out again, making them more beautiful and showing what's already there."
[Images via iFashion & Elle SA]
My favourites for day 1 & 2 would definitely be the Kutloano Mokolomme, Errol Arendz’s shoes & Kluk.
Pop in again tomorrow to see what happened on day 3 & 4.
