Voluminous texture envelops feminine frames. A minimal design aesthetic applied to a soft palette reflective of an African landscape. Bare lines constructed from threads of flow and movement, sway to contours of the body. Designer Bubu Ogisi fuses traditional culture and contemporary form in visual silhouettes. The fashion label, I.AM.ISIGO straddles half of the globe…
The forward-tilting trio of sleek bands, arch and encompass the iconic sneaker. A subtle zig-zag of a perforated edge is punctuated by straight stitching. Its rounded tongue, branded with the trefoil logo, peers out from a series of crisscrossing laces. Parallel to the classic three stripes, an uppercase text articulates this particular form of the…
Clothes are more than just a fashion statement. It is a testament to our ability of self-expression as well as a reflection of our ideas. Siki Msuseni has released a tote bag that is striking but also challenging our understanding of our South African struggle history. The tote features the iconic illustration of a tearful Steve…
Neoprene, the material of wetsuits, prepares us for submersion. Slipping into neoprene means we are about to sink into an otherworldy place. It’s no wonder then that neoprene has been the signature medium of designer Petro Steyn, the creator of Skeet. The avante-guarde fashion label includes neoprene bunny masks and surrealist dresses that are both…
Digital space is becoming an ever expanding archive. These platforms operate as constructed mechanisms of power that begin to shape collective memory and identity. BubbleKoppe engages in this process. Founder, Justin Ronne, says “I consider myself somewhat of a curator of Air Max culture and BubbleKoppe is my museum.” A scrolling display of organic forms…
Swathes of rich honey melt into tones of sun yellow. Individuals representing divergent identities are sheathed together. The rich cloth, draped over two figures, depicts a unified form. Mina Lundgren, Swedish artist and designer is the founder of Notion of Form. Employing a conceptual approach to the field of fashion, the project began out of…
So who is Dr Pachanga? He is a walking talking brand. In Spanish his name means “good times” and he has a PhD in giving them. Dr Pachanga is the vision child of Jean Rene Onyangunga who, having left his home town Durban, went to Cape Town to work as a Stylist. Having come from…
The word crayons conjures images of fun and free expression. Raees Saiet, the founder of the Crayons streetwear label has taken this to heart. For the Crayons launch event in 2013 they released colourful limited edition t-shirts and dungarees, while another pop-up incorporated a screening of Home Alone. Crayons latest release is a new set…
People are more saturated with popular culture than ever before. Through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter we are constantly bombarded with the antics of the rich and famous. Celebrities have dramatic break-ups on social media, cause firestorms of outrage with offensive statements and throw shade on their rivals- all in real time. But through such overexposure,…
The Ninevites was a resistance movement who scoured the South African frontier during the late 1900s. Having started the collective under The Ninevites name in 2012, Nkuli Mlangeni would do so because of how fascinated she was in its story, which was shrouded in so much myth. What the Kagiso native found crazy was that…
As its name suggests, the Fashion Lab is an experimental space dedicated to pushing the boundaries of clothing and style. Founded in Johannesburg in 2014, it has used the workshop format to create cutting edge clothing which meets high fashion with high art. The workshop has an egalitarian ethos ” developed for anybody wanting to…
We’ve become expert archivists of our lives after dark. At nightclub entrances and dotted across our dancfloors are clusters of partygoers huddling to snap that essential Selfie. A big night out is an exercise in self-curation — the clothes, the music, the crew, the venue – each serving as raw materials in our imagining of…
