Putting South African Fashion on the Map
The World Cup is putting South Africa on the map as a nation capable of organising world class sporting events. But the country had already proved its innovative and entrepreneurial spirit in the media and fashion world.
For the past thirteen years Johannesburg has been the location of South African Fashion Week. With two shows a year, showcasing the spring and winter collections, the event has become a platform that highlights the talent of African designers.
Catch a Vibe recently had the pleasure of talking to South African Fashion Week Director Lucilla Booyzen. She gives us some insight into the history, future and purpose of this fashion event.
RJK Designs
Catch a Vibe: What is the history of South African Fashion week? When did it begin and why was it created?
Lucilla Booyzen: During my initial exposure to the international Fashion Week circuit in Europe during the late 80s, I realized that a South African fashion design with a distinctive local identity could only develop if there was an independent platform on which collections could be shown collectively. Although we had a relatively strong creative design force at that time, there was no such platform and the design fraternity was also not demographically representative. We needed an open forum where designers could firstly get to know each other and secondly, be given access to all the other stakeholders in the fashion milieu, clients, buyers, celebrities, consumers and most importantly, the media. The idea was to first build a national platform and then to take it to the rest of Africa and the world.
During the early and mid 90s the impulse to start a South African Fashion Week with the designers at the centre became stronger and finally, the first South African Fashion Week took place in 1997 in Sandton Square showing only 10 of the best and most established designers. Many of them didn’t know each other or have an understanding of the media/the broad base of fashion-interested consumers. The launch of the South African Fashion Week started a process of growth and of breaking down silos which is completely underestimated by many who were not part of the fashion industry at the time.
We introduced the first New Talent Show in 1998 to give new designers the opportunity to break into the fashion arena. Jacques van der Watt, Terrence Bray and Yac Kimme were all among those first brave young designers. In 1999 the first non-white designers – Bonga Bhengu, Buyani Khoza, Colleen Dubane, Hayley Rasool, Scele Ntshalintshali and Thabani Mavundla came on board. Other labels like Maya Prass and Sam Bulgin were also part of that year’s New Talent Competition.
In 2000 we moved to the larger and then state of the art Sandton Convention Centre where we could build two auditoriums to show the collections of 19 designers. This was where Craig Native showed for the first time as well as one of the stars of 2000 New Talent competition, Sonja Niewoudt, who then went on to partner with Thabani Mavundla to be the design force behind Nkensani’s Stoned Cherrie Label. This label launched for the first time in SA at the 2001 SAFW. SAFW 2002 featured 21 black labels including Sun Goddess, Darkie, Bongiwe Walaza, Ephymol Life, Loxion Kulcha, Issues and Thulare Monareng.
Superella Designs
In 2000 we also launched the exhibition. It was small and admittedly, not very successful, but it was a start and a platform that we could build on to develop an entry-level space for more start-out designers to test the waters.
The South African Fashion Week did not only expand the horizons of the designers, but also the design consciousness of the designers’ traditional clients, the broad base of fashion consumers and the media – here and internationally. With our formidable SAFW team we threw a spotlight on local fashion design and created a huge buzz around it in the minds of the South African consumer. This also caught international interest in SA fashion.
By 2003 the Elle New Talent Competition was won for the first time by a black designer, David Tlale, the SAFW showed over 50 collections including 29 black designers and we also launched the Arts and Culture Fashion Seminar, the first of its kind in South Africa, to serve as a knowledge/skills transferral platform
CAV: What was the fashion landscape like in South Africa?
Lucilla Booyzen: The environment was characterised by insularity where designers showed their collections principally to their existing clients. The designers were absolutely fantastic and hugely creative and their workmanship was world class – I am referring to designers like Errol Arendz, Elzbieta Rosenwerth, Pasqual, Chris Levin, Archie Leggat, Pieter Soldatos, Rena Botoulas, Greta Abrhamson and later Gert van der Merwe, Dicky Longhurst, Clive Rundle, Gert van Rooyen etc. They were very successful and well-known in South Africa.
People were glamorous – they dressed up to go to the opera and ballet. However, the fashion design culture then was that it was only for the rich and famous and mainly about formal and occassionwear. The advent of the SAFW introduced the idea of design as part of mainstream lifestyle dressing.
CAV: What have been some of the most challenging aspects of running SAFW?
Lucilla Booyzen: Educating the South African public – making them realise that Fashion Week is about business and job-creation rather than exclusively (although of course to some extent always) about high-profile partying. The front rows should be hallowed ground reserved for fashion experts from the trade and media who are able to shape opinions and grow the design industry meaningfully rather than wannabes with an eye to a social picture opportunity.
Ephymol Collection
CAV: What have been some of the highlights?
Lucilla Booyzen: Every time a designer opens a store. Since the inception of SAFW the following designers have started their own retail outlets: Julian, Malcolm Kluk, Stoned Cherrie, Black Coffee, Hermanna Rush and Jacky Lucking of Miss Scarlet, Karen ter Morshuizen from Lunar, Abigail Betz, Maya Prass, Andre Martin from Life, Holmes Brothers, Tiaan Nagel, Marion and Lindie.
Equally every time a designer starts supplying a store or starts exporting e.g. Craig Native, Ruby, Ephymol. Or designers such as Ole Ledimo, RJK, Lebo Mash, Gugu and Palesa Mokubung growing from strength to strength tapping into their unique culture to design highly desirable collections.
CAV: How are the featured designers for South African Fashion Week chosen?
Lucilla Booyzen: We do not choose designers – the exhibition is our entry level – exhibiting gives the designers the opportunity to build their businesses, do research, network with buyers and the media. Once they supply one or two stores they can show on the public runway and when they supply more than 5 stores they can do a shared show in the Auditorium that shows to the media, buyers and the designers’ top clients. Only the big designers do a single show.
CAV: Who do you think are the designers to watch from this year’s shows?
Lucilla Booyzen: Ole, Ephymol, Lisa Jaffe, Black Coffee, Clive, Strange Love, RJK.
CAV: What lessons have you learnt from past fashion weeks? Have there been any changes or additions to the program as a result?
Lucilla Booyzen: The labels did not develop as fast as I expected. In the beginning our focus was on getting the designers to export but we have now changed it to focussing on building the local market.
South African Fashion Week Winter Collections – 2nd – 5th October 2010. Visit the official website
May I have my e mailing address visible to those who need it.
I am looking for Buyani Khoza Fashion Designer’s website, contact details. Please find him for me. I love his creative designer, i used to his client 12 years ago.
Where is he now?