A Right Royal Affair

This year's Vodacom Durban July could be the subject of much excitement as people get ready to dress up like Emperors, Princesses and probably Queens. It's a wonderful theme, but what worries me is how people may interprete it.
It is, of course, one that can get one's mind racing uncontrollably as they ponder an inspiration- Kate Middleton, the Queen herself or maybe even King Shaka of the Zulus? I am scared!
Over the past couple of years the fashion at the Durban July got designer Gideon quite perplexed. So "hurt" was he with the trivial standards that fashion at the races had descended to, he wrote a letter to a Durban newspaper complaining about it.
"Being a Durban designer, I feel proud to be from Durban and hold events such as this one very close to my heart. The July was always South Africa’s most elegant and sophisticated race day, however in the past few years I feel it has degenerated into a farce on fashion," he was quoted as saying.
Royalty and elegance go hand in hand for me. So, why not try something along these lines....

Pic: T Magazine, New York Times

It doesn't have to be Fashion Week!

At the risk of sounding somewhat insistent on the subject of the many fashion weeks that exist in South Africa, I have to share my thoughts about the wonderful event I thought Durban's Fashion Extravaganza, held at the weekend, was.
While some seem to believe that the words "fashion week" can and should be attached to any event with a runway, models and whomever claims to be a fashion designer, a Durban-based company decided to take a different route, introducing what they called the "homecoming" of the coastal city's fashion talent.
Never mind the sheer genius of holding the event on the Moyo Pier- it was bound to garner a lot of interest- the idea of bringing together some of SA fashion's biggest names, showcasing in an event that also featured young, unknown talent from the city, is something I think other groups or individuals, across the country, who organise pseudo-fashion weeks should try to emulate.
No, I'm not saying cut and paste the damn idea, but rather find something unique about their various cities and centre the event around that.
There are many ways, as I have said many times before, of contributing to the growth of South African fashion. Fashion is one industry that embraces diversity and change than probably any other I can think of. Bore fashionistas with a lack of originality and you've already lost our attention. This may be something anyone mulling a Bloemfontein Fashion Week ought to consider. Well, that's just an example. All I'm saying is; it doesn't have to be another "fashion week" to be a fashion event.

For a report on the established designers' show, called Fashion By the Sea click here