Pictures: SA Fashion Week had it all

Published Oct 9, 2013

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Durban - Quirky and quaint, daring and demure, glamorous and fun… SA Fashion Week’s Autumn/Winter Collections had it all. Even Minnie Mouse made it to the runway in Suzaan Heyns’s pop culture show that featured models in mouse-eared headbands, dresses festooned with toy eyes and the iconic Disney character skipping down the runway – following her hit appearance at London Fashion Week last year.

The Johannesburg fashion event that ended on Monday was held in balmy spring weather that nudged 30ºC, but all eyes were on the fashion forecast for the chilly months of 2014. And there was as much hype off the ramp as on it as dressed-to-kill fashionistas queued for shows and thronged the Rosebank Crowne Plaza auditorium.

This season’s event was a three-day mix of runway shows and installations (in which models posed on a platform), followed by the two-day Buyers’ Lounge in which designers marketed their ranges.

The line-up had fewer Durban fashion icons than in previous years, but our young designers were there aplenty. Hanrie Lues made it to the finals of the Renault New Talent search with her pleats-and-petticoats retro range and the KZN Fashion Council put on an impressive show that combined the vibrancy of Africa with European elegance.

Durban designer Colleen Eitzen described her Friday night runway range as “grunge meets architecture”.

“I hope I can pull it off,” she said before the show.

And pull it off she did, combining navy and charcoal with pops of tartan and metallic fabrics. There were no skyscraper heels in this show, just sturdy Doc Martens.

Gert Johan Coetzee’s installation was a riot of pink, with garments depicting the breast cancer ribbon and conveying the topical breast cancer awareness message.

Kottin & Twille went with a winter retreat theme featuring artist Johan Botha’s autumnal prints and Tshepo Mafokwane’s Sober range comprised strong military silhouettes contrasting with feminine lines.

Durban-born Craig Jacobs’s Fundudzi range, shown at a rooftop garden in Rosebank, was called Metamorphosis, depicting the transformation from pale chrysalis to bright African bluewing butterfly.

Menswear shone on the runway and Durban’s Narainsamy label brought a tailored pink, coral and grey collection to the party on Saturday night. Johannesburg label Naked Ape, founded by Pietermaritzburg-born Shaldon Kopman, presented an Ethiopian-inspired range featuring locally-sourced natural fabrics like hand knitted bamboo, accessorised by Dick Whittington Shoes from Pietermaritzburg. “If I could make ‘local is lekker’ sound sexy, that’s what I would call the making of this collection,” said Kopman.

Johannesburg designer Roman Handt let fantasy reign with sculptured shoulder pieces made of canvas and silk, or French knitted.

“Men have been wearing suits for centuries and it is time for a change,” he said, adding that his streetwear range would appeal to creative types and men who had the confidence to try something new.

However, SAFW is not just about creativity and talent. Director Lucilla Booyzen is passionate about promoting the business of fashion.

“This is not about beautiful clothes and egos, it is about creating jobs in fashion,” she said. - Daily News

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