The exclusivity, glamour and aesthetic appreciation of certain body shapes that define South African Fashion Week (SAFW) seem to set it apart from the values of empowerment that Women’s Month celebrates. This year’s exclusion of an anorexic model, after public complaint, contributed to the sense of a gulf between the values defined by fashion and those of society at large.
Yet participants and spectators said they value the event for its ability to empower South African women — who are described as more sophisticated and discerning about haute couture than ever before.
‘Some, [like] the feminist movement would want to say, ‘fashion is taking women back’,” said Dion Chang, SAFW’s programme director, ‘But if you look at a person who loves Stoned Cherrie, it’s really empowering. You’re taking your cultural roots and you’re [articulating] them in the international language of clothes.”
One label that spoke to 28-year-old business woman Avis Oduore was Mumsi Makhokolo’s Glori collection, which featured cleanly cut, feminine garments, including an elegant navy denim skirt and blazer over a blue seshoeshoe button-down shirt.
Oduore voiced her appreciation for the range, saying it would appeal to ‘top-class women” who drive big cars, ‘are CEOs of their own companies and don’t want to sit in their houses and cook.
‘It’s happening for South African ladies,” she said as she settled down to watch the launch of Vlisco’s new range, the Azziza Collection by Thabani Mavundla.
Mavundla’s range in African prints evoked a sense of French chic, but the women who minced down the catwalk in rakishly angled berets were more empowered by their attire and ability to captivate than by any suggestion of business acumen.
A luxurious aesthetic was also present in David Tlale’s collection, which was introduced by a projection of ancient Egyptian imagery as the words ‘glamour” and ‘opulence” flew across the screen.
The garments themselves, in rich golds and reds, featured origami-like folds in tension with flowing, Egyptian-inspired pleats. The glittering, gold-specked ramp of the Sun Godd’ess show similarly implied a sense of opulent, shimmering beauty.
‘The South African market is in a phase whereby they are starting to appreciate design,” said Tlale, adding that buyers are conscious of the differences between designer outfits, dressmaker wear and off-the-rack garments.
Pointing to a natty dresser in a pair of designer jeans and a white shirt hoisted high above a large, bling belt buckle, he commented that the market was more attentive to fashion than it was five years ago.
From her stall in the exhibition area, Natasha de Morais, the designer behind the Senorita label, echoed Tlale’s view with her observation that women were less casual in their dress at Fashion Week.
‘This weekend, a lot of women are going for the glamour look,” she said. ‘The women who come to see the shows really dress up. It is like they want to compete with the show.”
Most people at the event took the line that fashion allowed women to give expression to their individuality and that Fashion Week was not about women as a whole.
‘For me, it’s not about where South African women are. Different women respond to different things, based on their bodies and how comfortable they are with their bodies,” said aspiring actress Uyanda Mbuli, former Miss Globe South Africa.
Dressed in a black stole, clutching a glittering purse and casually conversing as photographers kneeled to take her picture, Mbuli explained that she came to Fashion Week for inspiration.
Most Fashion Week participants and spectators argue that the use of cultural reference gives South African fashion its flavour, but found it difficult, or were reluctant, to comment on how fashion shows construct notions of womanhood.
‘I can get all political but I don’t think that fashion should be political,” said Colleen Eitzen, a Durban-based designer of a line sold in The Space. ‘It’s just free choice. There are women who love my clothing and women who don’t. It’s not prescriptive. It’s not hem lines up or hem lines down.”
Nthato Malope, a fashion graduate of Wits Technikon, said that designers are caught between expressing themselves and producing for the market. ‘The designer plays a role in educating South African women on relevant trends and the work that is coming out of South Africa,” he said. ‘Then it is up to South African women to take that leap and find their own mode of experimenting.”
This year’s show recognised that men often get left out of fashion education, which tends to target women buyers. To promote menswear, the Industrial Development Council set up an area for menswear and brought along buyers to review the stock.
Among the labels launched were Sun Godd, by the creators of Sun Godd’ess, and Zuloe, a younger, streetwear label.
Loxion Kulcha’s range of seshoeshoe golf shirts conveyed the aspirations of a young elite in the language of street culture.
A golf-cart driven by two hip-hop artists created a music video atmosphere, but commenting generally, Chang said: ‘We need to get over the idea that a fashion show is about entertainment.”
‘Why invest in it when you want to show your clothes?” he asked, adding that singers and dancers might entertain the 100 people who are a designer’s clientele, but can bore the 150 buyers and fashion editors present.
Since 2003, Fashion Week has adopted the slogan, ‘The Business of Fashion”, to promote the marketing aspect of the event. ‘The honeymoon period is officially over,” said Chang. ‘Now we have to look at quality and production.”
He said it was important that Sanlam had decided to sponsor Fasion Week and offered to assess designers’ businesses and provide financial advice.
This year, there were 150 exhibition stands, including 50 young designers, at the show. Stands cost between R2 200 and R14 200 for larger stands.
Several standholders said that they made a turnover in the region of several thousand rands, which barely enabled them to break even. Some had received future orders, which would add to their income. Some said that it was less busy than they had expected and others commented that they came mainly for exposure.
The Holmes Brothers reported that a French buyer was especially interested in the beaded work that was a result of a new initiative by the Department of Arts and Culture.
The initiative saw 225 crafters collaborating with designers on a playful range that used raw silk and Victorian colours to give it an antique feel, while incorporating African belt buckles and beaded neckpieces, accessories and jackets made from crocheted plastic.
Celebrate women
- Malibongwe Festival is on at Cape Town’s Artscape from August 7 to 9. The main event is Strike a Chord, a concert celebrating women’s voices. Jazz diva Melanie Scholtz launches a new CD on August 9. Tel: (021) 410 9800.
- Women in Arts Festival takes place in Newtown, Johannesburg, from August 4 to 13. The line-up includes jazz, visual art, theatre and dance. Tel: (011) 832 1641.
- Women DJs play at Turntab’elles at Capitol in Johannesburg on August 8, and at the Chrome in Cape Town on August 11. Tel: (011) 836 0561 /(021) 425 4701.
- The South African Women’s Arts Festival is on at Durban’s Playhouse until August 12. See Motshabi Tylele’s murder mystery Shwele Bayo, Malika Lueen Ndlovu’s A Coloured Place and a festival concert on August 13 including Thandiswa Mazwai and Judith Sephuma. Tel: (031) 369 9555.
- Celebrating 50 Years of Women takes place at Durban’s Bat Centre on August 12. Catch Busi Mhlongo and the Mahotella Queens. Tel: (031) 332 0451.