At South African Fashion Week’s Autumn/ Winter 2019 showcase in Sandton this week, the country’s most elite designers demonstrated what international trends look like on South African soil.
Pop culture is teeming with ’80s aesthetics. Gucci and Versace are putting their logos back on belts and barrettes, television reboots and period dramas are en masse, while this past week celebs Lady Gaga, Katie Holmes and Charlize Theron made appearances in suits with exaggerated shoulder pads.
“On our ramp the references are subtle,” said veteran designer Amanda Laird Cherry. “There is definitely a global revival of ’80s trends but our designers have made it relevant to their context – to their clients. There’s a sharp focus on their own personal brand or signature style. They’re talking to international trends but remaining true to themselves.”
“It’s not an easy feat, but they’re fusing an African aesthetic with world trends.”
Cherry’s collection was more individual.
“I am normally influenced by pockets of culture but younger designers are doing this brilliantly, so I’ve been more introspective. I was inspired by swimming in the sea, beyond the break of the waves.
“This season, we collaborated with independent Inchanga ceramic artist Frank Nthunya, whose work visibly draws a parallel with the ocean theme.”
Even Cherry touched on ’80s silhouettes, invoking the dropped shoulder, while Lunar included culottes which were big in the ’80s, but have their roots in the 1500s (according to Wikipedia).
Fashion week director Lucilla Booyzen agreed that designers, in the event’s 21st year, were displaying a distinctly South African sense of self above all else.
“It’s so South African. Without being ethnic or literal. There is an ’80s vibe, particularly in the Woolworths collection. Designers such as Rich Mnisi and Thebe Magugu excelled. New talent winner Cindy Mfabe as well. But they’re interpreting rather than lifting.”
Magugu said decisions were often made for multiple, sometimes complex reasons.
“I used bell bottoms and angel sleeves, for example, but mostly for proportion. I was unpacking this notion of personal struggles, and while the prints and colours reference art, the shapes are purposefully constricting, conservative, even ecclesiastical,” he said.
The thought-provoking collections and superior quality of collections this year supersede trend, and fashion, in its old-fashioned sense, it seems, still exists.