Johannesburg - Top designers are set to unveil their Autumn/Winter 2016 collections at the annual SA Fashion Week, starting on Wednesday.
The four-day event, at the Crowne Plaza in Joburg, is a platform for established and emerging designers, who will showcase their latest collections to buyers and industry experts.
The designer line-up includes House of Olé, Ephymol, Amanda Laird Cherry, Rubicon, Mantsho by Palesa Mokubung, Black Coffee, Colleen Eitzen, Clive Rundle and Gert-Johan Coetzee.
Highlights will include the showcasing of the finalists of the Sunglass Hut New Talent search, as well as the finalists of the SA Fashion Week Scouting Menswear competition. The winners will be announced at each respective showing.
Three participating designers talk about the inspiration behind their collections.
Adam & Eve
Ready-to-wear designs
Cape Town
Tell us about your upcoming SA Fashion Week collection?
For Autumn/Winter 2016, Adam & Eve has focused on using warm luxurious fabrics such as suede, melton and soft denims. The collection features hues of nudes and taupe with pops or orange, chartreuse and deep blue, combined with our exclusive graphic print.
What were your inspirations for the designs?
Staying true to the Adam & Eve aesthetic, an ode paid to the past in an utterly modern yet feminine way with an emphasis on the way people move and live in an urban environment.
How would you describe your collection?
The collection is clean and urban with ’70s elements, punctuated by a strong graphic print. We are celebrating personal style with a clear urban undercurrent that will thread itself through the collection.
Describe the person you design for?
Our brand has always been focused on a strong but very feminine woman. With real women in mind we have to create garments that are comfortable, easy to wear and transition well from day to night. We like to design a range that includes fashion-forward pieces as well as understated-chic pieces which allows each woman to express how she is feeling.
The best Spring/Summer must-haves?
The Adam & Eve Spring/Summer 2015-16 range has a great collection of wrap dresses that are perfect for summer.
Mantsho
By Palesa Mokubung
Joburg
Tell us about your upcoming SA Fashion Week collection?
It will be a burst of solid colours and some black and white tribal prints. The fabrics are predominantly melton, scuba plain, printed and embroidered.
What were your inspirations for the designs you created?
My Collection is called “NEO SOUl”, a genre of music pioneered by artists such as Erykah Badu, Dangelo, Jill Scott… This music is and has been the soundtrack of most my clients’ lives, including mine. My inspiration comes from wanting to give a look and feel to that “Soul”.
How would you describe your collection?
It’s the colour of my Soul right now – happy.
Describe the woman you are designing for?
She is driven and a style leader. She has conviction, she is grounded and I suspect that she is also a workaholic.
When and how did you first fall in love with fashion designing?
Long story short, it was written in the stars for me. I just saw the signs and went for it.
The best spring/summer must-haves?
A Mantsho Zulu Dress.
Touch Of Bling
By Thabo Khumalo
Joburg
Tell us about your upcoming SA Fashion Week collection?
For this collection I chose military colours as it’s a growing trend, and added pop-up colours and digital fabric prints.
I was inspired by different cultures, street culture and things that I see in my everyday life.
How would you describe your collection?
Very edgy, bold, fashion forward,cosmopolitan and street cultured.
Describe the man you are designing for?
A middle- to high-class man. A working guy who enjoys socialising with friends, who is fashion forward and a trendsetter.
When and how did you first fall in love with fashion designing?
It all started with me stealing my mother’s sewing machine.
I remember back in the day having this tiny sewing machine in my bedroom which was my first studio.
I had nothing but a dream then… I trusted my hands and my very creative mind. I made friends with designers so I could learn more about fashion as a whole.
The best spring/summer buys?
Distressed denim, colourful sneakers and white trainers, lightweight bombers and prints in pants or T-shirts.
Just the ticket
Tickets for SA Fashion Week are available at Computicket and their website, www.safashion week.co.za.
Prices range from R100 to R175 a person per show. For more information and the full schedule, visit www.safashionweek.co.za, or contact the SA Fashion Week office at 011 442 7812 or e-mail [email protected]
Cape Argus