SA Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2013 Collections got off to a glamorous start in Joburg this week, following hot on the heels of its international counterparts, the “Big Four” in New York, Milan, Paris and London, where clashing prints emerged as the definite new big trend.
In Joburg, the event ends today after showcasing a feast of fashion from 35 top designers, including industry stalwarts Clive Rundle, Craig Jacobs, Black Coffee, Ephraim Molingoana and Palesa Mokubung of Mantshof.
And it’s big business; in the UK, the fashion industry is worth £21 billion (R281bn) to the economy, with London Fashion Week known as the innovative, tongue-in-cheek one of the Big Four.
Clashing prints were everywhere this year, with Henry Holland, Mary Katrantzou and Erdem all going for garish, mismatched, tropical patterns. Smalls are also big news, as bodycon expert Marios Schwab debuted his lingerie collaboration with Asos.
In Paris, tartan checks, boxy shorts and perfecto jackets met sheer silks and fluid silhouettes as designers played a boy-girl game with their looks for next spring.
The Belgian Dries van Noten, who drew a glitterati crowd as the first big name of the nine-day fashion shows in the City of Light, returned to his favoured masculine-feminine hunting ground, but with a tartan twist.
“It’s more masculine, more couture and more grunge,” the designersaid backstage after the show. “Ultrafeminine couture and masculine grunge.”
In Milan, the fashion capital of the world, the looks were sheer and the message for next summer clear – fashion should be fun.
Rather than being straight-out sexy, the effect was often an optical illusion, giving the eye more to feast on, not less.
Prints and graphic motifs popped up all over, with cheery floral patterns the most ubiquitous. Colour was important, with apricot, sea-foam green, powder pink, blues and earth tones as the background.
Closer to home, in Joburg the signature collections of six finalists are featuring in the Renault SA Fashion Week New Talent Search, a new SAFW initiative aimed at designers that have been in the industry for no longer than seven years.
The Buyers’ Lounge also presented established and emerging designers with an opportunity to display their garments – and hopefully fill their order books. – Lindsay Ord, Independent on Sunday and Sapa-AFP