Design Indaba: Stefania Morland Review

The final collection that I am going to review from Design Indaba 2011 is that of Stefania Morland. Let me start by saying that I am going to find an excuse to shoot that grey, tulle skirt, such is the joy that it brings me. I love how such opulence in a skirt is paired with an of-the-moment brown silk shirt, which is a classic high/low pairing for this season. My other great delight from this collection is the clashing of animal print fabrications. Layering gorgeous silks over each each other is lovely enough - to make each layer a different print is sublime. This was a mature showing of signature style, updated for the season. It was yet another demonstration of Stefania's consumate fashion identity, undimmed by the limited looks in the presentation. If you haven't discovered this label for yourself yet, it really is time. Next time you are in Cape Town, head to 15 On Orange and step into her world of fashion. You will thank me for it.

Design Indaba: The Summit

As is usual, the fashion shows at Design Indaba this year were dominated by women's wear, with accents of men's wear thrown in to show range. But one show was dedicated in its entirety to the guys, and that was the show by men's accessories label, The Summit.
Cindy Poole, the talented and lovely creative director of the label, roped in Keith from Adriaan Kuiters to provide the backdrop garments for the collection. And it is in this that I feel the only misstep occurred. The incredible workmanship, innovation and character of the leather and canvas pieces was somewhat lost in the fight for the garments to be the hero of the show. An even more neutral backdrop, or an integrated line of apparel, presented in a more static manner may have given the audience more of a chance to understand and appreciate The Summit pieces. Which I think are inspired.
Quality and longevity oozes out of the very DNA of this label. You know if you buy something now (which I did - the collar pins called the Ridgeback To Back), it will never go out of style. And yet the creativity in the versatile shawl collar which can be worn at least eight different ways is staggering and so very fresh. Almost every piece has this kind of versatility built in, meaning every piece has excellent value. Combine this with the longevity, and it reminds me of the bygone time of my grandparents and how they would shop for their wardrobes. This leaves me with a very good feeling. Well done.

Design Indaba: David West

Ahh, David West. Never has a designer appealed so much to a personal aesthetic I never knew I had. I'm serious. David West breaks all my rules. Resets my expectations every time. And schools me, I mean really schools me, in re-imagining what is possible with fabric and fashion. To my mind, he is the most exciting and innovative designer of wearable clothes in the country.
This time out, David showed his collection in two related parts. The first was the Victorian funeral procession looks - all austere monochrome and bustles. Obviously I loved it. Right up my alley. And so much detail there, guys. I asked David afterwards how easy it is to produce these magnificent skirts for sale, and he told me that he has never done so much unpicking in his life, but now that have it sorted and shouldn't be a problem. Good. Because I want one.
Then we moved on to, what I call the "Aztec Warrior" section. David had a very good and rational explanation of how they interrelated and the evolution of the narrative. And I totally appreciated that. But really, I just liked it a lot. I loved the introduction of pattern and how the different fabrications co-existed in a non-intuitive way. It made my heart soar. I liked that he could take Victoriana and warrior and make a 70s trend nod with both. He is so very talented. Well played West.
David West is available from his store in Long Street, Cape Town.

Design Indaba: Doreen Southwood Review

As I said to Doreen Southwood on Sunday afternoon, after she had presented her collection at Design Indaba for the final time, "I am worried that you are toning things down." With a deliberate attempt to go more mainstream and appeal to the commercial buyers, Doreen presented a lovely collection of contemporary fashion, beautifully styled for the season, with standout pieces that will almost certainly get her the attention she deserves.
Despite what I call the "lack of crazy", Doreen still managed to be the first to present the new Gaucho pants on the runway. Alongside exaggerated, flowing palazzos. Still intriguing and compelling me to look closer, her collection was deceptive in its simplicity, being in fact incredibly detailed and intricate. I think it was a fantastic achievement and one that takes her another step forward.
The only reason that I miss the more avante garde presentations is that Doreen is one of the few designers in the country whose clothes will appear normal and then you look closer and you have an authentic WTF moment as you wonder how that happened. And I always like it when a designer can do that.
But this is an edgy collection, designed to sell. And I hope it does. I have my eye on that blue frock with the pleat insets, so back off.
Doreen Southwood available at Mememe in Long Street, Cape Town and soon Johannesburg.

Design Indaba: Coppelia Review

The greatest delight for any fashion editor or commentator is when the seventy-fifth fashion show you see of the year (and it is only February), surprises, delights and makes you happy. The collection by Coppelia at the Design Indaba Expo on the weekend did just that. What a visual and stylistic treat.
Of course it is completely commercial - that is the explicit intent of the DI shows. But it was also very bold. And it was very, very different from the last couple of collections Kirsty Bannerman (one half of the Mungo&Jemima team) designed. I really loved it. And I enjoyed it all over again looking at the images of the show. That is a good test of the longevity and authenticity of the designs.
My favourite look was the blue midi skirt and boxy top. It is the perfect look for this season, in wonderful, soft, flowing fabrications. And the bright, block colour in simple silhouettes is flattering and exciting for our market here in SA.
You can get Coppelia at Mungo&Jemima and the Biscuit Mill Market in Cape Town and at The Space in Rosebank, I believe.

Design Indaba: Christopher Strong Review

This weekend the Design Indaba Expo 2011 delivered some surprisingly good, fresh fashion. My favourite of which was the small collection by Christopher Strong. First let me give props to the Cape Town Fashion Council, under the current leadership of Sylvia Gruber, who curated an excellent selection of designers. I can say that six out of eight collections were better than I expected.
Also, I tip my hat to Annelise Le Breton who produced the shows. They ran 100% to time. They were easy to see. They were mercifully short and sweet and just right to show off the fashion. They were even fun. Less of the smoke effects and the man-handler door keeps, and they would have been perfect.
And so to the review. C-Strong are a fashionista favourite. And so they get a lot of the fashion-riff-raff raving about them for no other reason than they are cool. David West and Stiaan Louw suffer the same fate. And yet, in these instances they are also very, very good. And we must commit ourselves to doing whatever we can to help them succeed.
In this collection of achingly perfect basics for next season, I will be ordering five pieces for myself. Yes, five. And paying my own good money for them. The perfect wider-leg trouser - so flattering, classic and yet modern. The sheer dress with the button down collar. Two trends in one there. And the great thing about the C-Strong designs is that no matter how many of us wear the same garment, we won't look the same because we can infuse them with our own style and personality. So many of us default to the big retailers for our basics. I vote instead for Christopher Strong. If you have ever complained that you can't get or afford Celine or Chloe or Stella in South Africa, do yourselves a favour and swing by the Christopher Strong guys. It is a great local alternative and you will be helping to build a deserving business. Good. Now go.

Why I Love Christopher Strong - And You Should Too

While the new-year-me is all zen about equal opportunities praise for local designers who achieve, there is no doubt that I still have my personal favourite designers. You know, the ones that I actually choose to wear (or would wear if I could). This year I am going to give these designers much more play here on the blog - put my 'money' where my mouth is and all that. Cape Town label Christopher Strong is one of these.
One of the most disappointing aspects of my recent health issues is the delay in going for a fitting with them for some highly anticipated additions to my wardrobe from the new collection. The long full-circle skirt (pic bottom right) is one of the items on my order list. Perfect for winter and summer and totally on-trend. As is a beautiful floral 50s-style dress. And the trousers, ah, the perfect trousers. They may not be Celine, but to my mind, not far off.
Christopher Strong designer, Elaine (also known as Olive) du Plessis, is strong on tailoring. This provides the collection with what I call 'backbone' or a decisive structure. The collection has a clear point-of-view. Not just buckling to trend, but encapsulating the latest silhouettes within their own design vocabulary. And keeping it clean enough for you to then interpret with your own personality and style. This is individualism with transparency and this is a gift to those of you who love fashion.
You can contact Michael or Elaine via www.christopherstrong.co.za or if you are in Cape Town, head for the Old Biscuit Mill Design Market on a Saturday morning.

Bokang Montjane Crowned Miss South Africa 2010 at Sun City

After months of searching, scouting and selecting, the new Miss South African 2010 has been crowned and she is the very beautiful Bokang Montjane.
A life-long pageant participant, Bokang has several titles to her name and knows how to turn it on when it counts. Hopefully this will stand her in good stead as she competes internationally as the SA representative. Let's see some titles being brought home this year.
I was very happy with the standard of the last 12 young women. They were all exceptionally intelligent, groomed, well spoken and any of them would have been an excellent ambassador for South Africa. They walked well (none so well as the lovely Anja, of course) and they carried themselves with as much dignity as they could muster under the circumstances.
It really does need to be said, however, that the amazing opportunity for celebrating South African fashion designers was well and truly missed. Labels Jenni Button and JJ Schoeman was the best we could muster for this international-standard production? With the greatest respect, the fashion talent in this country is so much better than this. With the exception of the well-fitted (but less than what he is capable of) swimsuits by Dax Martin, everything else looked cheap, nasty and dated. There was nothing on-trend, nothing truly sumptuous and glamorous, nothing celebrating South Africa, nothing fresh and new. As they would say, an Epic Fail! What a pity.

Stiaan Louw Project 6 - A Deeper Look Into A Talented Designer's Thinking

I hope you have all seen by now the launch of Stiaan Louw's new collection project '6' on other blogs, most particularly Man of the Cloth. StyleGuideCT loves us some Stiaan and believe that he is one of the most forward-thinking, creative and talented designers operating on the African continent today.
But I hung back a bit on the new project and let the others break the news. I - and I believe you, my readers - am far more interested in the story behind the launch, the thinking behind the creativity. And so I reached out to Stiaan, who as ever, was incredibly generous with his time and transparency around his thinking. It is one the reasons why I believe he will continue to greatness.
Stiaan shared with me that he felt he needed to redefine the way in which he was working. And while 6 is not a seasonal project, it was a tool in which to reposition his outlook and brand image as an 'androgynous' designer right now. Always playing loosely with gender and sexuality in his collections - never defining, never restricting - 6 was an opportunity to spell that out clearly once again as a state of diversity, as seen by him.
The 6 project consists of four components. The first component will be released next week with a component following every month until next year February. And they all feature Eric Bester, a model from Boss. Stiaan decided to use Eric to signal the shift in perception of the brand - in essence, to sexier.
This evolution comes out of a series of questions that Stiaan has been battling with - some about himself and some about his work, and he believes he is starting the process of answering them with 6. And from hereon his collections will only be numbered. I don't know why, but this fills me with a frisson of excitement.
Women's wear will be a complementary collection to 6, which I believe will excite a whole new market to Stiaan Louw. When I asked him about this specifically he said, "I believe this is my most defining collection since the show at fashion week in 2008. And it makes sense to extend the brand to include womenswear in the same handwriting in South Africa that poses incredible challenges for contemporary menswear." I can't wait to see it.