I had been sitting on that couch dragging on that cigarette for while without a care in the world. It did not even bother me that halfway across town, hundreds of fashion lovers were in suits, skirts, fake and original designer labels. These people were all making their way to the previously prestigious SA Fashion Week. Until a year ago, fashion week was a huge priority in my life. If I had missed fashion week, I would just wanna die. However, after the whole catastrophe that unfolded last year, I decided against it. Totally.
Fashion week used to be a space where the greatest artists would meet to share ideas, make contacts and most importantly, it was more about business and the booze would only follow after(as a form of celebration for all the lucrative business deals made).
What totally turned me off about fashion week this year were all those million venues all across town. I’m sorry but it totally irritated me. I have never been one who has ever been too receptive to change. I am the sort of person who says “don’t fix it if it’s not broken”.
Another thing that got to me was, how do you have a new designer showcasing at the same time and on the same day as a well established designer? Let me put it to you this way, if I was a new designer that you had never heard of nor seen and I had the same slot as Malcolm Kluk, what are really my chances of having a packed auditorium? Can we rather not have a different fashion week altogether for the great “couturiers”? that way, all the big fish can swim with others in their league instead of swallowing the young ones before they even grow.
I spoke to a couple of my mates who even bothered dressing up and taking to this event. I will not say I was surprised to have received mixed feelings about their responses. However, it seemed to be quite many who were disappointed. Sad because this is not the normal response one would have got when asked about fashion week 3 years ago. COULD FASHION WEEK BE LOSING ITS PLOT AND SIGNIFICANCE?
For me fashion week has become a playground for many. Then it comes down to the designers themselves. Some people have the audacity to showcase a range that was previously shown at another fashion week, with only 3 or 4 new pieces. The names are also groundbreaking. It has become so normal for even a street wear designer to add the word “couture” to their brands. KASI BLING COUTURE. WOW!
Then there is the issue of front rows. This has become the perfect place to be for fame hungry individuals who just want to be photographed next to a famous face so they can upload the images onto their Facebook and Twitter (and gloat about sitting on front row when they cannot even spell the name of the poor designer). Front rows was a place for people who would flip open that file and actually make things happen for the designers on show as opposed to “celebrities” who are looking for a “sponsored” dress to wear to…well, anywhere really. The opening of an envelope perhaps?
THE other day I had a conversation (over coffee and cigarettes) with a stylist friend of mine about whether South African designers have to be on par with their European counterparts. I have mixed emotions about this. It is unfortunate that our own industry had not yet become influential to a point where we can set trends for the whole world to follow. So we still need to look up to Europe. However, I applaud the way we are able to take these trends that are thrown at us and fuse then with elements of our own diverse cultures and ancestry and give birth to a new baby with a new life. This, if you ask me, is total artistic brilliance. So, as it turns out, we are not really copycats. We have a voice of our own. Forget the whole David Tlale/Alexander McQueen saga. We are all over it. I do agree though, that was totally not sexy. Anybody who knows me will tell you that I am practically the captain of David’s cheerleading club. Yes, even after that embarrassing saga, I’m still cheerleading captain(yes, again even after him pitching 3 hours late for a much publicized fashion show ON THE NELSON MANDELA BRIDGE).
Then again that whole David/Alexander catastrophe should make you think. Is this how pressured (or desperate) we have become to prove to the world that our creativity and artistry is just as on point as any other country. So I still ask, do we have to be on par or can we just spin into our own direction?
So if you are looking for the answer, please look elsewhere because I don’t have it. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. I honestly don’t know. I do know one thing though. We are Africa and we know who we are and where we come from and certainly know where we are headed. We have influence because our blood flows through the veins of so many all across the globe.
So maybe, just maybe, we don’t necessarily have to be on par with Europe. Or do we? I don’t know!
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