Charl Blignaut LIFESTYLE
One had to wonder, at some of the lower points of the evening, as the swirling lights hailed yet another African dawn, the corporate voice-over declared yet another renaissance-in-heels and the worst of the human zebras passed on the catwalk, what New York would make of it all. The four winners of M-Net and Anglogold’s first annual Africa Designs competition will, after all, go from virtual anonymity to becoming the first fashion designers ever to represent the continent at the New York Fashion Week later this year. They will be escorted by Dion Chang, assisted by Khuli Roberts and Julian and win internships with the likes of Mark Eisen. By the end of it all, though, as guests at Vodaworld in Midrand tottered gratefully towards the free bars and mountains of spicy kebabs, Africa Designs 2000 was declared a success. According to several local “fashion gurus” – who would’ve known we have so many and all in the same room at the same time – the judges made the most of a tricky selection. Although, among the final 16 designers on show, there were entrants from Ghana, Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, Burundi and Tanzania, only one non-South African entrant made the grade. She was Deola Sagoe from Nigeria and her brightly coloured Disco Lagos range of lurid woven textures and shimmery Afro-cocktail originals, all covered in audacious netting, was a firm crowd favourite. The three young South Africans who will be joining Sagoe in New York are Johannesburg’s Tracey Lee and Durban’s Bonga Bengu and Bongiwe Walaza. Of the three, it was really only Bengu who defiantly refused to “Africanise” his range too overtly. Skew, puffy denim two-pieces with gaping chunks cut out for good measure, Bengu tossed aside his marimba and offered a wailing refrain of rock guitars instead.
Lee opted for elegant combinations of crochet tops, leather trimming and beaded corsets. Walaza went for a layered, earthy, angular, Xhosa-inspired sophistication. Certainly, you couldn’t fault the judges. Predictably enough, New York will witness a delicate fusion of African accessory and First World chic. Gratefully they won’t be subjected to the more overtly traditional ranges. Not even West African beauty queens wear those pointy-shouldered creations anymore.
What the prescribed African theme of the event did manage to do, though, was to exclude some of the more genuinely innovative designs on show by opting for the safer, more swish Afro-tinged looks. Sarah Perkins, whose shaved buckskin and curio-quality skirts clashed with an odd, Afrikaner aesthetic, was apparently just too out there to fit the corporate brief. The same went for Thabani Mavundla’s divine fusion of Zulu crafting and modern secretarial chic. It’s the same old problem with fashion competitions – the sponsors define the trend (in this case “the crucible of African gold poured from the molten heart of the fashion world”) and you better get with it or get out. So, anxious to please, the 16 designers on show generally went for the safer African options – the earthy dawn colour schemes and regal matching headgear – instead of embracing other, more difficult factors that could comprise an “African influence”. The spirit of cultures clashing, the dusty influence of hip-hop street gear, lokshin-flavoured accessories and brassier multinational pop-culture elements that you can glimpse on any given day in downtown Africa. Maybe that’s asking too much in the first year of an event like this, though. In international fashion circles there’s all this talk about Africa being the next flavour of the catwalk, but in truth Christian Dior’s outlandish Masai styling is the closest there’s been to an African aesthetic in the international mainstream. You can’t count the one or two white local boys who’ve made good in the glam stakes, who dress movie stars at very important premieres. They lost their identity a decade ago. So, at least the sponsors are putting their money where their mouths are and creating a platform for new African voices.
Africa Designs’ companion event, the M-Net Face of Africa model competition, also seemed a bit prescriptive and naive in its first few years. But, by the third year of the event, the competition’s first winner, Oluchi, is already making waves around the world and has worked loose a new space on the ramp. She was too busy to join the competition’s other two winners – Benvinda and Nombulelo – on the catwalk at the inaugural Africa Designs competition last week. Hopefully, by next year, they will be too.