[Day 2...]

My sincere apologies about the late update. You see, I was somewhat 'taken by force' during the 4 hour break to a certain someone's house;

nevertheless Woolworthes microwave meals are awesome.

So the next show that took place included designers, Rubicon, Sies! Isabelle and Mantsho.

Sies! Isabelle

Bring on the Zip! A fairly amassing apparatus used for attaching two materials together in the way that you can re-attach and part it at any point.

So how about taking the zip that is usually at the back of a dress and putting it onto the front - and in Neon colours too.

Shear originality.

Designer Isabelle Lotter took her organic palette and juxtaposed it with neon, acid highlights. She encompassed femininity by using hour-glass shapes and fresh subtle folds that swayed to-and-fro. Her dresses reminded my of cascading water, falling into place just so and creating 'curvaceous frills that, like ribbon of pleated ruffles, fall into gathered jabots and plunging drapes trickling along the body'

- those would be Edelkoort's words and not mine sadly

She revived peach orange by placing it against marble grey. She brought the fun back in an almost turquoise blue dress

(this is brave I'll have you know, not many like turquoise but Isabelle changed our minds).

And what I loved most was how she accentuated a woman's neck and front profile by having the dress meet around the neck and not on either shoulder. Big pockets that were externally seen on the dress highlighted the hour-glass shape.

And the word comfortable was enhanced by the draw strings that hung loosely from the neck down to the knees.

Appreciate summer in comfort and ease.

Rubicon

Designers Vuyokazi and Raymond Matukane showed us how smooth, feminine and versatile the colour white is. Being an art student I know what different Oil paints are available.

For instance, there's this white they call titanium white and then mixing white and and and...this lists goes on. All for one colour.

This is what Rubicon did. They revived white in summer and helped us remember how fresh it is to wear it under the sun.

Cuts were played around with, from the collar to the off-the-shoulder, to the v-neck and even the round neck. There was an outfit for every occasion.

When talking to the designers after they told me about how they were celebrating 8 years of unwavering local talent. This new look, said Vuyokazi, was a rebirth into easy, comfortable and low-maintenance fashion.

Which made complete sense 'cause summer is care-free and you wouldn't want to your clothing to be the reason you're not enjoying it.

Vuyo also mentioned that the range is flattering yet practical, delicate yet structured.

I found it to be beautifully detailed even down to the piping used. There was a revival in tailored shorts for women and subtle sequences reminiscent to Edelkoort's fish scales and mermaid tails. Thin high waist belts and trouser pockets.

White elegance and attitude at its best.

Mantsho

Can you say John Lennon Revival?

Yup, that's right, those round Lennon glasses were worn by all the models. And to add to the hard-core attitude; army/navy like hats.

This being the shear attitude and tongue and cheek designs from Palesa Mokubung. The raw off-the-cuff culture that was illuminated through her patterns and use of African material made people smile, awe-struck by the originality and confidence. Gold was hinted throughout and clashing colours worked coherently to create work that was a reaction of Palesa's journey in Nigeria. It reminded of tropical fruit and the time I was in Zanzibar.

Everything from exotic summer scents to the night market that I visited with my mother was brought back in a whurl of nostalgic memories. And in a way, I think that's exactly what Mantsho was trying to show - the exotic and hot African countries that we share a continent with.

It also brought about this militaristic look that gave women complete different connotations. No longer were the words airy fairy and wispy used but instead, sexy, grungy and funky.

Lastly, and so as not to leave it out, Pallesa left us in awe with her last outfit.

You know how Jean Paul Gaultier designed those pointy boobs for Madonna?

These were pointy, sharp shoulder pads that pointed upwards and reminded me of some of the shapes seen in the clothing from the Yul Brenner and Deborah Kurr, King and I.

Round of applause :)

Back with last 3 shows later

Lovage

Paris B