THE WOMAN WHO CHANGED THE FACE OF FASHION!

SHOES 'N ALL...

COLOUR-BLOK (KINGS)....AND QUEENS!

         

So, last weekend a friend of mine threw his usual monthly bashes where the members of the BWS (broken wrist society) gather to "celebrate their colour". Damn, did these people come out in full colour or did they come out in full colour? The theme for this month by the way was colour blocking.

This took me back to the days when I was a young person with fashion being the last thing on my mind. These were the days when my frog figured aunt would wear a million colours all at once and somehow feel like she was the best thing since Brenda Fassie, Mercy Phalela and bubble gum music. Of course at that point it was entertaining cause I thought she was a living circus. Little did I know that this poor woman was on point. Damn, do I now feel like an ass.
                                                             

 

 Ok, back to the party. This was night of bright coloured fitted blazers, bright coloured sneakers and cellulite revealing shorts. There were hats, vests and all summery things. As hidious as some might have been, it certainly was a show worth seeing. And the masses did not disappoint.

It was interesting that some people were not so well acquainted with this theme and somehow thought it was rocket science. Allow me to educate!
                                                       

 

Way before it became "okay" to be a living circus, the Vivianne Westwoods of the world had long ago made it okay to look like a Christmas tree. This woman had long ago put this trend on the runways of Paris and London. Even our own township rebels, the Smaarteez had made it okay to look like a feast of colour. Only, at that point, everyone (including me) thought they were outta their minds. As it turns out, they were prophets of a futuristic trend. now I really feel like an ass. Hell, even the Shangaan nation had been colour blocking since their existence. They just never had an attractive term for their rebellious dress sense.
                                                        

 

However, COLOUR BLOCKING does not justify a bad dress sense. I have witnessed a lot of fashion faux pas at the hands of these trends. I'm all for this trend because it might just be an extension of who we are (by the way, I am also a member of the BWS) but can we just be careful. My point here is, colour block as much as u want to but, u still wanna be fashionable and stylish. Right? Afterall, isn't that what fashion is about? Remember to always be insync with your trends but REMEMBER to create your own revolution!
                                                          

 

XOXO....Needleguru

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FASH'ON MAIN

I remember when I remember when I received a call from a guy called Sakhile who said he was from something called “South Couture”. I had just had drinks with a friend of mine after attending the opening of MSC Boutique in Melville. It was a warm Thursday night and I was a bit tipsy from our oh-so-wonderful drinking endeavor, so obviously, I did not pay much attention to his request to submit a collection.  

                                                           

I ignored the request for a couple of days. Only because I had never heard of “south couture”. So, for interest’s sake I went online and checked out “south couture”. I went through every page of their blog and…oh my WORD!!! 3 words: PHOTOGRAPHIC FASHION BRILLIANCE

                                                          

I immediately got on the phone and called Sakhile to arrange a meeting. Luckily, I already had a range. It was stuff that I showcased at the Young Designer’s Experience. I still had to go back to the drawing board and revamp what I already had and still come up with new pieces too. There was work to be done.                     

                                                    

I stocked up on fabrics an all but first I needed an angle. A theme of some sort. Then it hit me. In the background of my “brainstorming” session was the sounds of Busi Mhlongo (may her talented soul rest in peace). There it was. My theme. Busi  Mhlongo. Nothing gets better than Busi. I still needed more…! I then went through every CD I own of the great musical gem, every article ever cut out. I listened to all the CD’s as I read all interviews, articles and “thank you-s” on her album sleeves.

                                                      

I needed to fully understand this woman. Who she was, what were her dreams and what she stood for. Then I found it. TWO WORDS: WORLD CITIZEN. This became my angle. WORLD CITIZEN! I HAD TO FIND A WAY TO FUSE THESE GARMENTS WITH ONE “THING” THAT WOULD BRING OUT ELEMENTS OF ANCESTRY, HERITAGE AND BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS. I WAS STUCK. Then it was back to the drawing board again. I went through pictures of Busi and the album sleeves to find that one thing that set her apart from the rest. Bingo! I found it…BEADS! Phew. Boy was I relieved?

                                                             

I bought a bag of bright colored beads and started putting needle and thread through every single one of them. About an hour and a half and a couple of cigarettes later, the finished product. A bright colored string of beautifully layered BEADS. My work was done.

Then came that breezy Sunday morning. There were about five friends sleeping in that house and every single one’s phone alarm had been set for 4:30am because I had to be on set by 7:00am that day. Unwilling as I was, I took that bath and started ironing the garments. Clad in black skinny jeans, crisp white shirt, black sneakers, brown belt and brown leather jacket, I made my way to the CBD. The streets are dead quiet and the only thing I can hear is the clacking sound of my teething beads neckpiece draped over my shirt.

                                                   

I get there and my model (an amazingly dark skinned girl from Soweto, who had never in her life stood before a camera) is waiting in the middle of Gandhi Square freezing her tiny ass off. We sit down for coffee as she has her make-up done. 30 minutes or so later, it’s lights, camera, action. It’s showtime.

We make our way to the deserted, very breezy Main Street. Soon as the camera starts rolling, the tiny, shy Soweto girl fades away and a bold, high fashion model manifests. What an amazing experience.

Eight wardrobe changes and about 8 hours later, it’s a wrap. We go through the images and we are blessed with thee most amazing pieces of artwork I had ever seen. I was humbled. I almost cried.

                                                            

This morning started with one designer, 1 make up artist and 1 inexperienced model, 1 camera lady and couple of guys moving bags from one location to another. Critics would say the odds were against us but I say our passions carried us through. We are blessed. It truly was an amazing experience that I will carry in my heart to my grave. Thank you to my fellow Africans. Let’s respect and nurture our craft. It is not everyone who has it. I truly am humbled. God bless you all. You have reinstilled the passion for State Of Guru back in me and for that I will eternally be grateful.

SOUTH COUTURE: you are our platform and I love u guys.

MAKE UP ARTIST: keep putting color on our dreams.

MS CAMERA LADY: the world should be documented through your lens. Bless you.

VINOLIA (MY ALEK WEK): THE RUNWAYS OF THE WORLD AWAIT YOU. WALK!

GOD BLESS YOU ALL…

THIS IS FOR THE MASSES!

FOR THE LOVE OF FASHION!!!!!

   

TRAILBLAZERS

Gabrielle Coco Chanel once said that “a fashion that does not reach the streets, is not a fashion”. Simple statement, but you would be surprised that so many people would not understand what it means. Hell, it took some time before I could fully understand what it REALLY meant. It’s quite simple really. It simply means that the streets, much like fashion, is a strong medium of our individual expressions.

However, I still find that when we occasionally run into that bold individual who refuses to succumb to the ordinary standards of fashion (which is often regarded as normal or acceptable) and just simply expresses their fashion-forward individuality and identity, we stare and react like they just jumped down from Mars or Pluto. Yet we claim to understand fashion and still go as far as labeling ourselves fashion gurus or icons. Wow!

                                      
If fashion is a medium of individual expression, then how can one really stand against what another is expressing? After all, it is supposed to be about individuality right? I think this where it all gets all tricky and sticky. Are we now saying that the way in which you personally want to express yourself and your individuality should always bear relevance to what the rest of the world thinks is okay or acceptable when it comes to fashion?

Does this now mean that when the rest of the world decides that purple or green is the color for the season, you cannot wear your yellows and reds and still be considered fashionably relevant?

I have come across a lot of people who have “defied” the “norms and conformities” of fashion. And for me, these are the people who have managed to make an everlasting impression on me. Simply because they were causing a revolution of their own.

I am referring to people who went totally haywire when a certain trend was seen as the “it” factor. I am talking about the nomads, the minimalists, the print freaks, the rocks, and even the cross-dressers. These are the individuals who stand out for me when the rest of the world feels like…I don’t know…”military” is couture. These are my personal fashion street soldiers. Does this now make them fashionably blasphemous or irrelevant?

                                                
I think quite the opposite is true really. I think that fashion is what initially becomes your own interpretation. I have never been one who has followed trends on color for a certain season. It all boils down to preference at the end of the day. Look at it this way, we all know what color works for us and which is our favorite. Right? Be it because it flatters our complexion or our silhouettes, we know what colors and pastels work for us.

Fashion for me has always been a personal revolution. And for me, like everybody else, the streets were the best way/place to amplify this revolution. So they are both very interlinked. Too interlinked if you ask me. It is for this reason that you find fashion designers, stylists and bloggers will be going to all corners of the world for “inspiration”. And you can bet your ass on it, one of the first few places they go to seek this “inspiration” is… THE STREETS.

  

So if you are sitting there and feeling like crap because the girl with a pencil skirt and a floral blouse at reception cracked a giggle when you walked by in your futuristic or tribal ensemble, get a hold of yourself because you have reason to strut and celebrate. You are contributing to a fashion revolution. Your own fashion revolution. Does it get any better than that really?

                                        

And if you were too scared to walk down Bree Steet this morning because you felt like that tribal dress was a bit too much, and therefore opted to take the long route to work, i dare you to wear an even more defying dress and walk down Bree Street tomorrow morning.

 You are exactly what the streets of Joburg need. You are FASHION. And trust me, it does not get any better than that. Do your fashion and take it to the streets. You’d be surprised how many nods you are actually getting from the individuals who truly and really understand fashion and its revolutions.

Nods from even the Coco Chanels and Alexander McQueens in the heavens. You are fashion. Now let’s take it to the streets.

IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN WHAT SEPARATES THE ORDINARY FROM THE EXTRAORDINARY, THE COUTURE FROM THE MAINSTREAM AND THE BOYS FROM THE MEN!

SHADES OF MIDNIGHT

We have always had talks about the prospects of wearing sunglasses indoors. A year or two ago, I was one of the guys who would so confidently stand inside a club with a pair of oversized frames. I think as I grew older and started paying attention to the first 3 letters of the word SUNGLASSES, I realized how much of an under carpet idiot I had been all along. I still feel embarrassed when I look back at those days.

                                                             

So embarrassed that I can not sit comfortably in a taxi with my frames on (yes I still do it at times in a taxi but if u see me doing it, know that half of me feels as stupid as I look). It really is beyond me how i ever came to the conclusion that that would be cool. Nowadays, 6pm means only one thing to me...TAKE OFF THOSE SUNGLASSES IMMEDIATELY.

A friend of mine just refuses to surrender to this. He says for him, they are his “F-FACTOR” (fabulous factor in simple English). I say, fabulous or not, it just does not make sense.

This morning, a client walks into the room for a meeting in frames that not even Paris Hilton would have the guts to don. Of course they were fierce but they were so huge that every single person who walked past us could not help but stare. Poor woman thinks it’s because our fellow coffee drinkers are envious of her accessory. I just did not have the heart to tell her that she actually looks like an idiot.

                                                           

I think the rule is simple here and the lines are very clear. It does not matter if Kanye West (who is the biggest offender of the sunglass rule) and Kylie Minogue or Madonna, or even Dj S'bu and Somizi do it and it looks cool on the front row of Fashion Week, it does not make it okay. Really, it does not.

                                                    

The rule here is very simple (I don’t care who set the rule, but it just makes sense). If the SUN does not directly hit your pretty Maybelline and Mac coated face, don’t wear your SUNGLASSES. Trust me, you don’t need them.

ONLY RAY CHARLES, STEVIE WONDER, STEVE KEKANA, BABSIE MLANGENI and members of the visually impaired community have the right to wear their fabulous frames indoors.

                                                       

So, at the risk of sounding un-fabulous and lacking in the “F-FACTOR”. PLEASE DON’T WEAR YOUR SUNGLASSED INDOORS. IT REALLY IS NOT COOL.

When you walk into a club, please shove them at the bottom of your purse or leave them in your car. You will not need them in there and you do not look as fabulous as you think! THERE, I SAID IT!

                                                                                                                      

CULTURAL INFLUNCE AND DIVERSITY

It was such an amazing experience for me to be watching the new Thandiswa Mazwai live recorded dvd, “Dance of the forgotten free”. I had always been a fan of the great Ms Mazwai. As she walks onto the stage, I am immediately drawn to the whole process of addressing her ancestors and lights up some “impepho” (incense) on stage.

 As she squats to address the ancestors, layers and layers of leather are stylishly layered onto the floor. It is different skins of different animals that are designed in a wrap-around form. One of the most raw and artistic things I had ever seen. She has thrown this masterpiece on top of a black A-line skirt. The black background given by the skirt gives allowance to the beautiful colors of the leathers to play. She gyrates and dances to the strong beat of the drum like a spirit child in a trance. The movement of the leather strips is even more spectacular.

From this day I start obsessing over how garments of our late grandmothers and fathers have influenced our modern way of style and design. I start googling the likes of Stoned Cherrie, Sun Goddess and Palesa Mokubung. I realize now more that ever that the relationship is so intense. So similar, if not exact at all.

I even see a lot of our black diversity in the amazing creations of Marianne Fassler. It is actually very amazing. It hits me that all the “new” trends that we are slapped with and made to purchase at sometimes ridiculous prices, are actually the same frocks that our great Mirriam Makebas, Dolly Rathebes and Busi Mhlongos were rocking all along.

It is all the same things, just twisted here and there to make it fit and more appealing for our modern fashion way of dressing.

 It is the same sort of influence that has taken place in music and politics. Only this time it has become even bigger because fashion, much like music, is a big part of our everyday. Whether you choose to be conscious about or not, fashion affects you. Yes, you. The very same you who says it does not matter what u put on your back because it does not make you who you are. Well, fashion still affects YOU!

The relationship between fashion and music is also so amazing. They are literally husband and wife. I’m just not sure who is the wife. Musical artists who take their crafts seriously will tell u that music is nothing without fashion because without the right image, you’re basically screwed. It is for the same reason that you have a soundtrack at a fashion show. The same reason that you dance when you fit you clothes in a fitting room at that store (I hope you all do because that is what I do).The same reason why that song you listened to in the morning had so much to do with what you are wearing now. Think about it. Really. Think about it.

So whether we like it or not, before Stoned Cherrie first put the “isidwaba” on the ramp, Busi had already worn it in Europe. Before JC Ngandu made the “isibheshu” look so sexy @ Fashion Week, Mahlathini had already worn it on stage with the Mahotella Queens. I am not saying that designers are any less talented, just saying that we give credit to the great ones that came before. So, Mam’ Busi Mhlongo, Mam’ Miriam Makeba, Mam’ Dolly Rathebe and the great Mahotella queens, thank you for setting the vision and laying the foundation. And thank you to Princess Magogo ka Dinizulu for making raw animal look oh so couture.

Thank you to the Thandiswa Mazwais, the Simphiwe Danas, the Camagwinis, and the Lebo Mathosas for keeping the fires burning.

Thank you to the Palesa Mokubungs, the Marianne Fasslers, the Stoned Cherries and the Sun Goddesses for you vision and perseverance to keep our heritage alive. Our heritage, our ancestry and diverse cultures are a great part or our artistry and are a reminder of who and what we are. We are Africa and we are Artists. More than anything, WE ARE FASHION!!!