LBD: The Lil' Black's (style) Diary: South African Fashion Week: An Expression of the Creative Facility

Over the weekend that has just past us, at Shine Studio in Johannesburg the city was buzzing on the excitement that is South African fashion Week. It is always three days of the celebration of the creative facility that some choose to explore and discover more than others. Socialites, designers, personalities, fellow bloggers and any other fashion enthusiasts attend this fabulous weekend and are presented with the perspective of different designers, perspectives that some of us may share.

It was evident that some people are returning to what they know how to do best! The simplicity of a lot of the designs really made the clothing and fabrics have a consistent voice. There wasn’t much experimentation from others, except for Gert Johan-Coetzee and Diamond Face Couture; however experimentation from these labels is expected. There was a celebration of the isi-shweshwe print and bold West African prints as well. There was either a use of bold and bright colours or there was a return to nudes and earth tones. For ladies there is the introduction of simple clean lines, interesting use of print, shoulder accents, loose and flowing garments and drapery. And for men there is the embrace of shorts, colour and the tailored suit!

What I loved about most of the collections that showed over the weekend is that there wasn’t an overload on trends, these collections were stylish and used shapes that the public is already familiar with. I find that with runway shows, the audience, or rather the common man often feels disconnected from the clothes that they are seeing on the runway. They look at the fashion being shown as unattainable pieces of over-priced art. However with South African Fashion Week this year each collection was beautifully assembled and most importantly relatable.

Here are a couple of photos from the South African Fashion Week, supplied by SDR photos (accessed from www.hautefashionafrica.com

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