South African fashion: how Cape Town and Johannesburg are drawing in tourists and creating a new style aesthetic
- Once-crime-ridden areas of the two cities are being gentrified, and fashion boutiques are opening up in these new hip destinations
- Designers such as Rich Mnisi and Thebe Magugu are mixing African crafts with modern aesthetics and becoming noticed internationally
Cape Town is celebrated for its extraordinary coast, its rolling purple and green wineries, its jagged mountains and Mediterranean climate.
Today, however, behind the candyfloss pink, peppermint green and buttermilk yellow houses of Bo-Kaap and the Waterkant, there are boutiques filled with colourful knitwear from MaXhosa by Laduma, carpet-skimming dresses by Rich Mnisi, and bias-cut coats courtesy of Mmuso Maxwell.
This transformation is down to a few visionary designers who have worked tirelessly to overcome the problems facing the local textile community. For years, South Africa, a country with 11 official languages, largely followed fashion trends handed down from America and Europe. This was mostly due to the fact that apartheid deemed any non-white tradition irrelevant, so the rich worlds of Cape Malay, Zulu, Xhosa and Khoisan design were swept aside.
A recently renewed emphasis on local craft techniques, however, has combined with an extraordinary array of rising talent to create an exciting new aesthetic; add that to the mix the creative energy of a growing city and the result is one of the most innovative fashion scenes in the world.
“We have a vibrant fashion industry filled with designers committed to making a difference,” says Lucilla Booyzen, the founder and director of South African Fashion Week. “We also have an indigenous fashion culture populated by distinctive signature designers, at a time when rampant consumerism and mass production are increasingly questioned by the new luxury consumer.”
