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Ah yes Jeremy Scott, I haven’t mentioned it yet but one of my favourite designers. In fact that donut pic I use on Facebook is from one of his collections. Based in LA (but showing at Paris Fashion Week) Jeremy is known for his trashy (sometimes literally) sense of humour and is adored by hipster superstars everywhere. His latest collection fused Marie Antoinette and Madonna circa Like A Virgin. Genius.
But was a bit lost amongst the general hype of Paris (maybe another city would work better?). Closer to my heart personally though is his work for Adidas.
Pics via Nylon
The high fashion on the high street trend continues with the launch of Comme Des Garcons collection for H&M – no doubt creating another fashionista feeding frenzy. Forget collections with pop princesses this is where it’s at. And bonus points too for taking it into menswear and the over size polka dots. I suspect some of the SA retailers (other than woolies who I have to say i’ve got growing admiration for) see this designer collaboration as a fad or PR exercise. Wrong – It’s the future.
Junya Watanabe’s (Japanese designer) collection at Paris looked vaguely familiar with his strong African influnces this could have been off the ramps at Joburg Fashion Week. No doubt some locals will mutter bad things about african fashion not actually being represented by african designers… but nobody said fashion was going to be fair. Sun Goddess should get their own back and do a kimono collection next time round.
The good news is Africa keeps coming up as a fashion influence almost every season in one way or another. Also interesting to note is that artists like Vampire Weekend, Esau Mwamwaya and M.I.A have all made Africa totally hip (for the next 5 minutes) in London and New York. You’ll have to google them yourselves though as i’m late and need to get out out of here.
Happy Fridays.
New Delhi based Manish Arora is always a treat for his dreamscape couture. Indian designers have a headstart given the countries heritage of craftsmanship but Manish I think is fair to say has blown the doors open for a new school of Indian futurists that have fused traditional and contemporary skills. I think SA can certainly learn something from how Indian fashion has gatecrashed the global fashion party.
Also worth noting is his Fish Fry collaboration with Reebok India (see video at the bottom of this post). I guess his strategy is to use avant garde collections as a brand building exercise which allows him to do more commercial activity (he’s also just launched a make-up collection with MAC).
Loving Gavin Rajah’s blog, best thing i’ve read since FakeKarl.blogspot.com. 2 posts in and that’s pretty much everyone in fashion taken out. Splendid.
The Baileys Trunk Show is an event I’m currently helping to put together. The idea in a nut shell is a pop-up fashion store but to create an atmosphere more like a gallery or art installation. It will take place for one day only at Art Extra in Joburg next month (see below for how to attend spaces are limited so register early if you want to come along). I’ll be doing a few more posts on this as we get closer but for now i’ll also add that visually we’ll be exploring the theme of the original trunk shows (which the pop-up store trend is a modern version of). Join the Baileys Trunk Show facebook group for more info.
This is the press information:
Baileys, the world’s no 1 selling cream liqueur, has collaborated with some of South Africa’s most talented emerging fashion designers to create the Baileys Trunk Show, a temporary exhibition and retail space. The event provides an exclusive opportunity for the public to talk to designers about their work and purchase selected items from their newly launched 2009 summer collections.
The first Baileys Trunk Show will take place on the 11th of October at the Art Extra gallery in Craighall Park where the designers work will be exhibited in a uniquely crafted pop-up store, a new trend in South Africa of highly stylized and temporary retail spaces. A Baileys bar will also provide a suitably stylish accompaniment.
Designers taking part in the inaugural Baileys Trunk Show in Johannesburg include: Maya Prass, Fundudzi, Thula Sindi, Stiaan Louw, Mzansi Designers, and Abigail Betz. They will also be joined by innovative eco-fashion label, Carbon de Afreeque, which utilises recycled materials, such as advertising billboards made from PVC, to create high fashion products such as clutches, totes, laptop holders to wine coolers. They have also extended their offering to eco-furniture pieces from ottomans to a chaise longue all upholstered in PVC billboard material.
All of the designers represent the best in internationally competitive South African fashion design with many of them showing work overseas. Most of the designers will be presenting work fresh from the catwalks of South Africa’s various fashion weeks (held in July and August) and this will be one of the first opportunities for the public to buy their new collections.
Baileys National Brand Manager, Lauren Jones, says, “The Baileys Trunk Show is an innovative new way to connect with our style conscious consumers whilst at the same time championing independent South African fashion. The designers we have collaborated with to create the first event each have a uniquely creative approach to producing design excellence and were chosen to match the style originality and premium quality of the Baileys brand.”
The Baileys Trunk Show is free to attend, however in order to retain an intimate environment space is strictly limited and those wishing to attend should register by sending an email to baileystrunkshow@atmosphere.co.za (in the event of over subscription those that responded first will be registered as a priority). Further information on the event and designers collections will be sent via email after registration.
These are a couple of the looks from Stoned Cherrie’s collection that I thought were interesting. Colourful, commercial, distinctively Stoned Cherrie and not a dark cloud on the horizon (unlike other summer collections). The label has opened a new store in Rosebank and launched an accessories range recently.
Black Coffee made their debut at Cape Town Fashion Week (usually hanging out at Sanlam SA Fashion Week rather) I assume this isn’t their entire summer collection and was made specially for Virgin Mobile? Anyway it was a great collection of draped fabric, insectoid frocks and ribbons with a vaguely bondage vibe. Would have been great to see more…
Saturday nights at Cape Town Fashion Week are usually the quietest (most of the media have hit their deadlines for the week and skip the finale show which in the past has been more consumer focused). So a nice change this year that some of the best work was shown on Saturday. Suzaan Heyns, of Joburg’s Abraham & Louisa presented an avant garde collection that felt like a nightmare fantasy mixing up fairy tales, S&M and uh the poney club.
India produces some great designers and I think the South African fashion industry could learn alot from how they’ve marketed their fusion of traditional influences and avant garde creativity. Slightly off topic once more but the work of Manish Arora is amazing – kind of the Clive Rundle of India.
