Over the weekend of May 26 – May 28, RMB and Latitudes presented a new indoor/outdoor experience at the Shepstone Gardens in Houghton. The space is typically used for weddings, with beautiful gardens, a chapel and rose bushes scattered about. While two people did not celebrate their union this weekend, there was a wedding at the fair—the marriage of art and fashion.
While there’s so much to be written about the art that was on display, there is frankly not enough textual space to fairly speak to the sheer mass of what was on display. That’s exactly what one gets at a fair of this nature: mass. Through a careful curatorial arrangement, the organisation was such that there was a fair divide of the mass, with new rooms seemingly materialising out of nowhere within the labyrinth. Yet still, amongst the masses and the colours, a flare for fashion was clear as day.
As attendees perused through the corridors of the fair, one could bear witness to a showcase of local designers. Interestingly enough, local designers themselves were also present – with Wanda Lephoto having been spotted. The works of Mmuso Maxwell, Thebe Magugu and Artho Eksteen also made appearances, by my own observation.
As these viewers adorned their local designers, it makes for a beautiful support of both the design industry and the arts industry. Amongst the hallways of the beautiful labyrinth, the lines between design and art come into a beautiful blur. But what is it about these spaces that make people dress so fashionably? What codes are embedded in these spaces to bring out the finest dressing?
From observation, the aesthetic offering is honoured by another aesthetic offering. Living in the city, one is constantly embedded in the tension of brutalist architecture. There is so much noise, commotion and action embedded with purpose. The city moves, and it demands. We have to be practical, and it affects the way ordinary working-class people can dress.
So in a space of art – when practicality isn’t necessitated, and the only demand is to experience—people took the opportunity to express something of themselves in their own way.
RMB Latitudes also encouraged mutual support, as design stores—bearing ceramic as well as fashion items—occupied space alongside the booths of galleries. One of the exhibiting stores was Viviers Studio, a Johannesburg-based fashion house. Viviers also dressed the Latitudes team for the Artist and VIP evening.
Terence Maluleke, The meeting of empathetic minds, acrylic on canvas, 2023
REWA, REWA nwanyi oma [beautiful woman], 2022, acrylic and ink on canvas, 48x36im
Mira Jaan, Blush, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 74x43cm
As these viewers adorned their local designers, it makes for a beautiful support of both the design industry and the arts industry. Amongst the hallways of the beautiful labyrinth, the lines between design and art come into a beautiful blur. But what is it about these spaces that make people dress so fashionably? What codes are embedded in these spaces to bring out the finest dressing?
From observation, the aesthetic offering is honoured by another aesthetic offering. Living in the city, one is constantly embedded in the tension of brutalist architecture. There is so much noise, commotion and action embedded with purpose. The city moves, and it demands. We have to be practical, and it affects the way ordinary working-class people can dress.
So in a space of art – when practicality isn’t necessitated, and the only demand is to experience—people took the opportunity to express something of themselves in their own way.
RMB Latitudes also encouraged mutual support, as design stores—bearing ceramic as well as fashion items—occupied space alongside the booths of galleries. One of the exhibiting stores was Viviers Studio, a Johannesburg-based fashion house. Viviers also dressed the Latitudes team for the Artist and VIP evening.
Phillipe Koudjina, Trios Jeunes Hommes Sur Canape Th...-,1960-70, photography, 64x5x64cm
Nothando Chiwanga, Avo vasikana ve Blue [The Girls in-Blue], 2022, Photography on matte paper, 8382 x 6096 cm
Mario Macilau, Telton Simbine(1)[Faith-Series], 2017, photography printed on fine art paper, 90 x 120 cm
Commenting on the role of fashion in the art space, and their relationship with art, Viviers Studios Creative Director Lezanne Viviers shared: “Art and clothing intersect, complete and transcend, where the limitation of language starts.”
“Clothing and art transcend written and oral language, both describing the liminal and expanded boundaries, between the illusion of time and space,” she continued. And to treat it as language might explain just how it is that the glamorous fashions and the art seemed to be in such deep conversation. The beautiful walls, and the art that adorned them, truly made for a liminal space when the clothing and art came into a conversation of aesthetics new and unseen.
Justin Dingwall, Serendipity, 2023, mixed media on canvas, 136 x 87 cm
Shitanda Shitanda, The Chorus, 2021, mixed media, 80 x 80 cm
Mary Sibande, Ascending, 2023, 9 colour lithograph with gold leafing, 105 x 78 cm
Commenting on how design speaks to other design (say the ceramics and clothing, like Viviers, I mentioned earlier), Viviers shared that “VIVIERS aims to embody the idea of a New Earth culture, where nothing exists in isolation. I am, because we are, and therefore, you are… the true spirit of UBUNTU. In this light, we believe that we all benefit from sharing and showcasing with all our fellow artists, as in this way, we are even stronger as a collective community. We loved the spirit.”
Art fair fashion is real. These spaces are, in a refreshingly escapist way, very unreal for people. Many members of the public cannot afford to support, in a monetary way, much more than just an entry ticket. Many ordinary working-class South Africans cannot afford to buy the art exhibited on the wall. But they take off their ties and swap out practical shoes for statement shoes, and show up. Show up in a way that recognises that if the artists can find it in themselves to present something visually striking, we too can go into the back of that closet and channel beauty in response.
Lebogang Mogul Mabusela, Ao ng hug [Aren’t you gonna hug me], 2023, oil pastel on paper 42 x 36 cm
Guto, Mulher Cubana, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 44x36cm
Bahati Simoens, Start the Way You Wanna Finish, 2023, acrylic on cotton canvas, 121.9 x 91.4 cm
Cinthia Sifa Mulanga, Elements In Her Finest, 2022, Mixed Media on stretched canvas
Sam Nhlengethwa, Opening Night Jazz-Diptych (2008), Collage, oil and acrylic On Canvas, 180 x 159.5 cm, Courtesy-of-Goodman-Gallery
Images courtesy of RMB Latitudes
