A return to form at SA Fashion Week

The SA Fashion Week (SAFW) Spring/Summer 2024 (SS24) was a well-produced season of the post-Covid-19-pandemic era. This is due to the addition of new partnerships with Isuzu coming on board in 2023 and now world leading beauty, cosmetics and haircare brand L'Oréal Paris in 2024.

With this boost, SAFW was able to use the Mall of Africa space in creative and comfortable ways, returning to an esteemed sense that took a knock from the economic impact of Covid-19.

L'Oréal sponsored the “Walk Your Worth” show which celebrated empowerment and diversity in a show-stopping production. Isuzu — whose stylish rebranding and longevity align with SAFW — sponsored the Isuzu Luxury Collection which featured Jacques van der Watt’s latest Black Coffee collection.

Extending on his signature sculptural silhouettes with geometric shapes, Van Der Watt worked with pleating in expressive and voluminous detailing while maintaining some restraint. The character-filled headgear completed the strong and subdued looks which were an intelligent take on luxury.

Out of its four-year running collaboration with Italy and the Fashion Bridges project, SAFW has unveiled an interesting talent in young designer, Lezanne Viviers. Returning for a third show with SAFW, having showcased at Milan Fashion Week and completed a mentorship programme with Polimoda Fashion School in Florence in 2023, Joburg-based Viviers Studio presented a conceptual and performative collection that engages with our humanity and relationship with the natural world.

Working with different fabrics from wool, leather to mohair and with different techniques that mixed sophisticated tailoring with a grungy rebellion, the new Viviers collection, In Our Element(al) was a futuristic commentary on the interconnectedness of all beings and our collective potential. The avant-garde feel of her work is reminiscent of early Black Coffee and its performative spirit has bits of the theatricality that Amanda Laird Cherry has perfected. Viviers is one to watch for the conviction of her voice.

Within its sustainable and inclusive practice SAFW has in recent years called for designers to design their own prints contributing to the growth and localisation of our textile industry. There were plenty prints this season — from 2023 Mr Price New Talent winner, Cyla Gonsolves’ pretty new collection to Rubicon who has since starting digging into her heritage with prints that evoke the lush and fertile landscapes of Mapungubwe.

Notable was Thabo Makhetha’s new collection, which extends on her modification of the Basotho blanket for modern design. With the limitation of blankets being too heavy, Makhetha has gone for a lighter and fluid textile with cotton jacquard featuring a woven (and not printed) signature print inspired by Basotho traditions and culture. The collection, Dikeledi, named after Makhetha’s grandmother boasts a toned-down colour palette that works well with the considered and nuanced leather design that echoes the past.

SAFW featured three Mozambican designers as a way to build on its regional network and exchange. With plenty prints, a sustained collaborative spirit and an inclusive platform for different voices, the SS24 season was a memorable one.