Tory Burch SS12

via song of style

Smoking Hot Break

This is my idea of taking a break.
I have been writing non stop this morning and I wanted to get away from it all.
I found myself feeling a little better after discovering Fayruz Abdiaman on le coil

SA Fashion Week A/W 2012 Roundup - My Top Three Collections

Suzaan Heyns

I don’t even remember who showed before Suzaan Heyns. That’s how amazing her collection for Autumn/Winter 2012 was.  As the show was starting I was chatting to a friend when we were interrupted by what sounded like a million photographer's lenses going off at the same time - a crispy crunchy sound that turned out to be everybody opening black plastic envelopes that read ''open at the start of Suzaan Heyns show'' - and already we knew we were in for a treat!  These pictures do the seamless flow of the clothing down the runway no justice! Just thinking of the virtuoso that conceptualized and designed this collection and the meticulous hands that cut out each of the leather scales on the dresses gives me the gumption I needed to say something, something I can't say about the majority of other collections.  And yet, I just want to savour it for a little while and not spoil it by breaking it down and talking about it.

Tiaan Nagel

The thing I enjoyed most about this collection is what I said in a tweet " I respect designers who stick to their quintessential yet have the ability to bring novelty with each new collection'', and for me, this applies to Tiaan Nagel's fresh take on Lanvin's, Alexander Wang and Calvin Klein's leg of lamb inspired silhouettes.  This is something so fresh and global for a South African runway and audience and judging by the number of people who were in Tiaan Nagel during the week (including me on two different nights), this collection is going to swing easily from the runway to somebody's wardrobe.

Naked Ape

This collection could have been on any runway in Europe and America in terms of design aesthetic, craftsmanship and creativity...but I really liked it because it reminded us that we are in Africa.  The colour scheme, fabrication and the sheer strut of the men in that tailoring sent tingles down my spine.  What I would do to be surrounded by a room full of men who dress like this all day everyday.  And 10 out 10 for presentation.  There was a ceremonious start to the show - huddled groups of men that conjured up images of amakhetha (circumcision initiates) in the wild, wrapped in blankets and their new manhood.  Shaldon's Kopman's men had cloths  with studded letters that spelt words like Sotho and African names.  It was a welcome production. And thank you for the dancers.

me at fashion week

i know some of you are dying to find out what happened at fashion week.  please be a little more patient. it's coming.  just closing the month and my sister singa is coming to visit so i also have to play host :-) but here's something nice i found on itswhatiminto

Me on Friday night at SA Fashion Week in Black Coffee pants, Amber Jones T-shirt and Melissa shoes! Necklace and Rings by Oh Dear Megan!

SA Fashion Week A/W 2012 Roundup - Elle New Talent Competition

For the second consecutive year, I was asked to be on the judging panel of the competition that has launched the careers of some noteworthy local designers including Tiaan Nagel, Anisa Mpungwe and David Tlale.  Last year's winner Cleo Droomer has been interning at Gavin Rajah in Cape Town and presented a new collection at the Elle New Talent Show on Thursday night. I still don't know how he turns that glossy rubbery fabric into beautiful dresses.  I like that he experiments with different fabrics - the other pieces were made from parachuting, something one hardly sees on local runways. His new collection for Mr Price hits stores this week.

Amber Jones for Mr Price

Somebody over the weekend said that Amber Jones is the best thing to happen to Mr Price.  Although she would turn redder than her hair if somebody said this, I must say that she is synonymous with the Mr Price brand, even though she doesn't work there anymore.  I'm not sure in what capacity, but she presented a new range for this show.  

I liked the youthful bubblegum quirk of this collection - it was big on dresses and cutesy paraphernalia like the bows on the shoes, shorts and accessories and heart shaped specs.  Bang on trend, I think they young un's will like this. Of course, I didn't love absolutely everything - for my personal reasons and also because I feel some of the stuff was too bang on trend, a bit predictable and like you'll wake up next year and not want to wear some of these clothes because their time would have passed.  But I'm 26 not 16. 

Onto the reason we were all there, the reason I almost had heart failure that evening, was the Elle New Talent Awards.  The 8 finalists all really deserved their place and overall, the standard of entry's compared to previous years was pretty high.  This is why we spent much longer than usual arguing it out, discussing which of the top three should win.  In the end, the votes went to Port Elizabeth based student Kelly Esterhuizer, whose knitwear collection blew our socks off!  It was something we didn't expect, it was novel especially in South Africa for knitwear to look so fashion forward and lastly, those looks don't only look good on the runway, a lot of them could be worn off the hanger.  

Kelly's range was fighting it out with Kotloano Molokomme's fierce force of a red collection that had a lot of the audience members ghasping in disappointment with our decision! I.think.he.is.going.to.be.ok

Here are some of my other favourite ranges from South Africa's newest designers

Lameez Claasen from Cape Town and two of her Lam Collection looks.  Hoping we will have this adorable range at Mememe.

I heart Danielle Hartman's Heroine collection! It was full of the binary opposing components of soft and hard, feminine and masculine - leather against chiffon, pleats vs big folds.  

The tailoring in Khumo Motane's House of Rehab (don't know about the name) collection was impeccable.

For me, this was the most exciting show this season - I like discovering new talent and playing a part in bringing in new blood to the industry.   

pictures: Ivan Naude

SA Fashion Week off the runway!

Yesterday marked the end of the AW 2012 collections at SA Fashion Week. Although I always appreciate the runway fashion, I must say that the style on the streets is equally appealing! I'll be posting pics and reviews from the shows I saw when I find the time in the next 24 hours.  It was a good weekend for SA Fashion #phambili