The Sandton Convention Centre hosted yet another fashion extravaganza this week. The Audi Jo’burg Fashion Week’s Autumn/Winter collections began rather slowly on Wednesday — perhaps the dark clouds that frequently spewed out bucketfuls of rainwater throughout the day may have been to blame.
The opening day featured designers still finding their feet in the fashion world. They have a lot to prove, and the collections on show were uninhibited, inspired and alluring. Local girls Batya Bouzaglou, Cari Stephenson, Bekky Beukes and Simona Ferrari were challenged by Mozambique’s Taibo Bacar, who knows a thing or two about how to dress women — something he routinely does in his country’s capital, Maputo.
Ferrari animated the nearly full auditorium with her ancient Roman-themed collection. The fabulous models strutted her work, Naked Armor, a seductive range crafted from garbadine silk. The frocks did well to emphasise the striking female bodies on show. In an interview with Mail & Guardian, Ferrari said she was inspired by “strong, powerful women” and her intention was to make women feel sexy. The models swaggered with lances held aloft in leather gloved hands and helmets stuck on their heads.
It was a heady mixture of menace and graceful allure. The debutant designer was thrilled by the feedback she received. According to Ferrari, she had even been invited to design items for some in the audience, although they want their garments “a little more toned down”.
Backstage, the Mail & Guardian spoke to Doyin Olatokumbo, 1,82m-tall, ebony model from Nigeria. Her four-month-old son, Ayodeji, was sleeping nearby on his father’s lap as we spoke.
“He is used to it,” she said, when I asked her how she won her husband’s support for her profession. “I cope with the pressure. There is nothing wrong with having a baby. Afterwards I work out and try to keep in shape.”
Her husband, Olatokumbo Ayomide Wonder, confessed that modelling is “not an everyday job”, but he has learnt to adjust his schedules to fit his family’s.
“Today I have had to come to assist her. I am carrying the boy, he is also my son,” he said.
He said he is not worried about the public glare at all: “When you trust your wife, you can let her go. Even when she goes to the United States for months on a job I know she will come back”.
Getting to talk to the designers as they dressed the models was not easy, and preference was given to television. In fact, while the models dressed, preference was given to female reporters, and the reason why is obvious.
The audience at the fashion week the day this writer attended was predominantly white. Idly, I thought, “Well, this is a good contrast to the dark frocks on show.”
The audience oozed class and looked extravagant. They were covered (some were uncovered, rather seductively) in a medley of fabrics. Apart from silks and rich cottons, an Indian woman seated next to me told me her outfit was made of sharara, a mix of chiffon and organza.
It was an enthusiastic audience, composed of old and young, that never hesitated in applauding the young, and certainly not diffident, designers.