Durban Fashion Week – read about the highlights!
D-va fills us in on the Durban Fashion Week – loads of talent, a spoon of thievery, a dash of controversy and a sprinkling of genius… sounds inspiring!
Cape Town has one, Joburg has one and now Durban has one… our very own annual Fashion Week!
The difference between this and the other annual fashion events in Durban (DDC, Durban July) is that Fashion Week is more like a tr…
ade fair than a fashion show, with an emphasis on exposing the work of local designers to international industry professionals.
Sponsored by SAA, East Coast Radio, The Independent on Saturday and others, this event is the brainchild of local lass Venashree Singh. The first Durban fashion week, held during June at the ICC, was such a success that it looks like it is here to stay. The key aims are to showcase local talent to a national and international audience including retail buyers and media representatives; and to raise the profile of Durban as a tourist destination.
More than 30 designers paid for their slot (yes, PAID – this is a bone of contention, because this privileges designers with big bucks, but then all trade fairs are expensive for people wanting exposu…aren’t they?), including:
Colleen Eitzen
Jeanus (Bonga Bhengu)
DDE designers (Kathrin Kidger, Tumi)
Warren Morck
Karen Monk Klijnstra
Life (Andre Martin)
Malcom Kluk
Gavin Rajah
Francois Vedemme
The Space
A bridal show and the popular International Fashion Sale were also included. Summaries of some of the ranges below:
Colleen Eitzen
Colleen courted controversy with her range, depicting Hindu deities on tight fitting pieces, in particular on a red halterneck called “the Marilyn wrap”. Her careless use of religious iconography has outraged the local Hindu community and its leaders, who found her actions “belittling” and “against the constitution”. A representative from the SA Hindy Maha Sabha said “using these deities as decorations shows ignorance”.
In her defence, Eitzen said she merely wanted to express all that is familiar in Durban.
Malcolm Kluk
Kluk’s designs proved so sought after that a (suspected female) thief broke into his brother’s house, where he was staying, and and-picked and stole outfits to the value of 20 000 from beneath the bed where he was sleeping!!!!
Kluk has dressed top names like Beyonce Knowles and Miss SA Claudia Henkel.
Nadia Meer
This range was inspired by Durban’s taxi street culture, and the designer used accessories designed by Chris de Beer (Dept of Jewellery Design, Durban Institute of Technology), made from car tyres.
Kathrin Kidger
Kathrin Kidger used neutral coloured feminine fabrics such as lace and chiffon with tweed in a range that emphasised the gut of each garment. Her show stopping creation was a gown modelled by Miss SA Claudia Henkel, and accessorised with pear-shaped diamond and gold necklace by Vernon White.
Karen Monk Klijnstra
Karen Monk Klijnstra, a personal favourite, used character models for her eclectic range including embroidery, stripes, beading and silk. The range was described as “Afro-east meets west, with a sprinkling of ‘boho’ delights”.
Pic: 2Me
Durban designer Tumi Motlhamare’s ‘Diski’ (Africa Futurism) range
