SA Fashion Week to stretch creativity of designers

The thirty must-see designers will include Black Coffee, Rubicon, Colleen Eitzen, Ephymol, Naked Ape, Lunar, Vesselina Pentcheva and Clive Rundle.

Opening the three-day showcase this year is the Sheer Glamour Collections by Motions and TRESemmé which will combine high design by among others, Suzaan Heyns and Stoned Cherrie, with the latest summer 2013 hair looks developed by stylists Matthew Mansoor for TRESemmé and Nthato Mashishi for Motions.

Equally anticipated is New York-based, South African designer, Albertus Swanepoel’s launch of his namesake luxury sportswear collection, Albertus Swanepoel Spring/Summer 2013. The renowned milliner who has received critical acclaim for his runway collaborations with some of New York’s most significant designers including Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, Alexander Wang and Carolina Herrera, has turned his attention to luxury women’s sportswear which he describes as “modern items that every woman can incorporate into her existing wardrobe.” The collection will be produced entirely in South Africa.

The return of designer Rahim Rawjee, founder and Chief Creative Officer of ROW-G with a menswear collection, is another highlight of this year’s event.

Rawjee showed his first Row-G woman’s ready-to-wear collection at SA Fashion Week in 2000. The Row-G label quickly earned a reputation for innovative design before he decided to take a sabbatical from design in 2002. Row-G once again opened its doors in November last year focusing on bespoke menswear marked by tailored craftsmanship and the use of refined technology.

Continuing SAFW’s tradition for trail-blazing in the local industry, this season will also see the introduction of the first designer Fashion Installations, a new presentation format where the runway will be replaced by stationary models wearing garments in static shows that will allow guests to view the pieces in detail up close.

Designers that will be involved with this new format include Clive Rundle, Albertus Swanepoel, Naked Ape, Palse Homme and Tiaan Nagel.

Designers from the Edgars X SAFW Designer Capsule Collections will also feature in the line-up. The Edgars X SAFW Designer Capsule Collections is an initiative by SAFW and its retail development arm, The Fashion Agent.

It has steadily grown since first launching at Melrose Arch and Sandton City in 2011 with turnover growth over this period to date increasing by 194%. Included here are Fundudzi by Craig Jacobs, Just, Kottin & Twille, SIES! isabelle, Gert- Johan Coetzee and Two, among others.

The inaugural Lufthansa First Best Collections - a new platform to introduce young entrepreneurs to design a collection with the focus on creativity and workmanship – will see the unveiling of collections developed around the idea of South Africa’s unique diversity. This will include collections by Cutterier by Laz Yani, Anmari Honiball, Mej. Lues by Hanrie Lues, Missshape and Samantha Constable.

Lufthansa will give the winning designer the opportunity to attend the Berlin Fashion Week in Germany in July 2013. “All the designers have previously participated in either the SAFW Renault New Talent Search or other SAFW related competitions and have showed significant design and entrepreneurial talent”, says SAFW director, Lucilla Booyzen.

South African Fashion Week