Represent Film Review: The Strangers
Sheese, The Strangers is my worst nightmare kind of cheesy thriller: Young couple staying overnight in a country house hear noises and knocking on doors of possible intruders in and around the neighbourless forest-ridden environs. It’s a horrific storyline if you’re a paranoid person like me, who cannot live in a house affixed to the ground in Johannesburg… my imagination is superbly active and my sense of self-preservation way too egotistical. I always have to live at least three floors above ground level to feel safe, and even then, I check the sliding doors before going to sleep. The sheer horror of realising someone is trying to break into the house and murder Liv Tyler was enough to cause serious incidental flashbacks and regular hoarse screams of “OMG” while throwing my face into the shoulder of my big and strong companion, in the process being a little over generous with my sugared (WTF?) popcorn and the neighbours. Definitely Not for the crime-paranoid. Or maybe? It’s a freaking thrill. And based on a true story. See, I told you...
Represent Review: Fashion is good for the Soul
Our Fashion Fundi Vincent Zondo attended the Old Mutual Soul Sessions last week and resoundingly rates it an official ‘must attend’. Some people foolishly believe fashion can get by on talent alone, a good small-business understanding is PARAMOUNT to creating a profitable, growing brand – aha, lightbulb moment? don’t say we didn’t try to convince you otherwise… Durbanites and Port Elizabethans, you still have a chance to catch the sessions: While sporting the ultimate “it” bag from GUCCI – Betty Suarez (from the hit TV series – UGLY BETTY) said, “Fashion is GOOD for the soul”. Staying true to this statement is the Old Mutual Soul Sessions’ which is my MUST attend event for all the soul providers, designer’s, fashionistas and young entrepreneurs this pre-Spring. I personally love this time of the year because the fashion industry is buzzing and dishing out plates of excitement, glamour and cutting edge designs that keep us perched on the edge of our front row seats. It’s an absolute bloom of all things fabulous, new fashion trends, the discovery of that all-new designer with the potential to take the industry to new heights or secure our Fashion on the global map. The Joburg Fashion Week hit us three weeks ago, Virgin Mobile Cape Town fashion week took place last week and I am so looking forward to the Sanlam Fashion week this coming week. And while all these events carry fresh talent, piping hot trends and chic designs, I recently unearthed a new gem in the basket, and it has the potential to inject much-needed fashion business sense into this industry. The-Venue in Melrose Arch saw the dawn of the much anticipated Old Mutual Soul Session (which we profiled last week) and the experience was beyond measure. This exceptional event shed some light into the path of success like no other that I have witnessed before. Speakers like Pie Pacifique shared the most intimate details of how they got to the top; what stood out for me here were the benefits our designers could gain, and most importantly the power of the human spirit in testing times – post this session I truly felt that the potential to survive this cut-throat arena is very much within reach. And when Sonwabile Ndamase exposed us to some of his newly discovered proteges from his fashion awards event – the crowd raved through the roof at the potential of these young designers. Young designers have been observing the innovators of our growing fashion industry and this inspiration plus the combination of talent, hard-work as well as essential business savvy skills required, will ensure success for their...
A Soulful event for designers & fashionistas alike
So the question remains, how on earth do we make money from our art? Represent’s resident fashion fundi Vincent Zondo reckons part of the magic formula is a robust PR and marketing plan. He lets us in on a must-attend event (THIS SATURDAY in Jozi) for everyone and their muse working in the fashion and clothing industry, the OldMutual SoulSessions, taking place this weekend in Jozi and then in Durban and PE in the following two weeks. Click here for more info and make sure to pay the very affordable price to get the lowdown on getting your genius out there. Represent! Last year at Fashion Week, in between all things fashionable – I managed to catch Chris Viljoen – ELLE magazine’s Fashion Director to get his view on the shows, designers and collections that we had just seen. The (important) fact I wanted to probe was his opinion on how our local fashion designers faired compared to international designers, particularly on the business side of the trade. Chris represents true international fashion exposure, I mean, thanks to him and ELLE (The bible) we got a glimpse of some of the hot-off-the-ramps trends that graced Paris fashion week, nice! His response highlighted the realities facing South African fashion designers and entrepreneurs alike…how to make a business out of fashion. Now, fashion designers and fashionistas…do Pay attention here: “Our designers have a long way to go when compared to fashion houses like Marc Jacobs, Paul Smith, Gucci or Prada and other independent designers internationally as they operate as mobile brands” said Chris. I concur. I think that the success formula has to include independent designers acquiring a Publicist that goes all out to ensure consistent media exposure, you know, the experienced marketing types with ties strong enough to hook up unique brand opportunities – whether its dressing Halle Berry to the Oscars or Paris Hilton for that hugely publicised VIP event; a continuous efforts is made get the designer’s brands to attain some form of association with that ‘glam space’ of fabulous fashion. Hence I say their approach to fashion and business is far more advanced than ours (which is still in it’s teens?). Also most noticeable about these designers is that they know just how to network, are super business savvy and good at working opportunities that can help them get ahead of the pack. This is FASHION and competition is always cut-throat – the work doesn’t stop when fashion week ends. A step in the right direction – here’s how. Now, as much as we are all aware that we have some catching up to do and the...
Get ready for the MAMA’s – MTV Africa!
Our dedicated scribe of the moment, Reuben ‘The Matrix’ Malema, attended the MTV press announcement of the ‘MAMA awards’, MTV’s pan-African music awards brought to you by MTV and their sponsor ZAIN (a telecommunications company…). He reckons healthy competition is the way forward to uplift and keep on diversifying and enriching our music scene, we have to admit, we agree! See our photostory at our RepresentFlickr set here. Read all about the event below – the official media release follows. Sharpile RTMM! It’s official, MTV Networks Africa is here! And if all the over-the-top hoo-hah of Tuesday night has any truth to it, then the end for the MTN SAMA Awards is definitely not nigh but rather in a very real way so resoundingly here. The setting of MTV’s “take-over-Africa” spectacle was the Japanese themed Tokyo Sky of Fourways, Johannesburg. Ja, the ambiguity was very clear: the guillotine’s blade has gut-gushingly fallen on the video-jockey controlled entertainment industry in this part of Africa! I have to admit though, with all the fine sushi, on the house liquor en masse (Double Remmie Martin and Lemonade…one more please sir!), the glitz and splendour that was blatantly flaunted, the Network has a lot of credibility and plenty to offer Africa’s musicians in sharp contrast to the MTN SAMA Awards that favours the same few artists all the time and only focuses on SA. Let us not forget the controversy-riddled quagmire of the recent MTN SAMAs which did not help the situation either, in fact if anything – this year’s SAMAs managed to quicken the event’s long awaited coup de grace. Competition is often a healthy thing and in this case it’s long overdue. The Media targeted event (Nou Ek Spog!) had the makings of a typical TRL show on MTV Base. The MC was as chirpy as all the free flowing video mouthpieces on the network’s channels. The program direction was lively with a twist of spring. The audience (le paparazzi!) was very receptive, although at one stage a tad disappointed (we’ll come back to this one…). Mr. Alex Okosi, a Nigerian born, American raised, British groomed and now South African Corporate Executive is the driving force behind MTV Africa’s no-holds-barred takeover bid. His passion and inspiring vibrancy is believable enough to prop-up one’s expectations of the fresh wave of reprieve that has at last beached on our shores. An array of Dj’s and musicians were bopping away, including Cleo, KB, boys from Skwatta Kamp and Brickz. One particular artist caught my attention, the 12 year old In-cha who is an ingenious (lest I be tempted to declare her a maestro) violinist....
Jazz Lovers get your JOJ tickets… fast!
This years Standard Bank Joy of Jazz looks to be sexying up jazz in SA as a slick array of global jazz favourites are jetted in to perform in the heart of Johannesburg city. Think other great Jazz festivals like Montreaux, North Sea Rotterdam, Montreal and of course New Orleans ongoing jazz extravaganza, they all started somewhere; but their defining features have to be the quality and range of Jazz muso’s in the lineup as well as the tight organisation that goes into running world class music festivals. It looks like JOJ is on it’s way up there, lets hope it becomes an international attraction. But for now, all you local Jozi people that love Jazz, hurry up and buy your tickets, if you don’t know where to start, we’ll tell you what we’re excited about and MUST NOT be missed: Roy Ayers, Joy Denalane, Asa from Nigeria, Simphiwe Dana, Max Wild and Sam Mtukudzi, RJ Benjamin, Ringo Madlingozi, Abigail Khubeka and then we’d probably really dig hanging out with the ‘developmental and emerging bands’ to spot hot new talent, like the Central Johannesburg College, George Tabor School of Music, Music Academy of Gauteng and The Tshwane University of Technology’s School of Music and bands from the Puisano Roving Jazz programme. Anyways, whatever you do, GO GO GO. The international language of jazz will see the stages of downtown Jozi go global when the annual Standard Bank Joy of Jazz runs in Newtown from August 28 to 30. Some of the world’s top jazz artists will be providing a musical mélange of sound at this not-to-be-missed jazz-travaganza. With its truly international line-up, the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz will incorporate all jazz styles – from Afro jazz and fusion to Latin rhythms, bebop and straight-ahead. Artists from America, Japan, Norway, Spain, Israel, Germany and Holland will be joined by top performers from South Africa and Nigeria. Giants of the jazz world include Japan’s Keiko Matsui who recorded her last album Moyo in South Africa; the Original Superstars of Jazz Fusion featuring Roy Ayers, Tom Browne, Wayne Henderson and Lonnie Liston Smith; American saxophonist Joshua Redman; guitarist Doc Powell from the US; Israel’s Avi Lebovich and the Israeli Jazz Orchestra; Spain’s Sedajazz; Holland’s Denise Jannah; Germany’s Joy Denelane and Norway’s Tord Gustavsen. Performers from the African continent include South Africa’s Abigail Kubheka, Pat Matshikiza, Mark Fransman, the 2008 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for jazz, Simphiwe Dana and Yvonne Chaka Chaka as well as Asa from Nigeria. The Mbira Stage will showcase the opening night bill on Thursday, August 28, with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO) paying tribute to...
Six Young Designers Battle it out
Fashion Weeks are supposed to be the breeding ground for the new wave of designers coming through the ranks, as well as the platform where we, the adoring public, get to see young designers mature and move on up through snotty after parties to fame and glory. That’s why it’s great to see initiatives like the ELLE New Talent Awards that actively seek out the hottest young creatives in fashion and give them the support they need to get seen. Six finalists were chosen from a pool of 50, as ELLE magazine in partnership with top fashion value retailer, Mr Price, narrowed the search for this year’s hottest new fashion talent during the ELLE New Talent Awards 2008 first phase of judging. Marize Malan, Robyn de Klerk, Tanya Demby, Anisa Ami Mpungwe, Stephan Marin and Khumo Mashimane made the cut and will showcase their designs at the 2008 Sanlam South African Fashion Week (SAFW) ELLE New Talent show on 27 August 2008. The final judging takes place on the 26th August. The six finalists will also get an opportunity to exhibit their work during the SAFW which ends on 30 August. The competition, open to recently qualified designers, exposed some very good talent according to one of the judges, trend analyst, Dion Chang. The designers had to create a women’s wear collection of eight garments for Summer 2008/9 under the theme New Romance. “It was pleasing to see fresh ideas and the different interpretations of romance,” Chang said The ELLE New Talent Awards 2008 will for the first time this year give the winner an opportunity to be exposed to the full retail cycle through a mentorship programme with Mr Price. “There was a lot of exciting, innovative and creative work coming through and we have no doubt that there is great new design potential in this country,” said Joanne Coelho, Trend Manager for Mr Price, who also judged the awards. The competition has in past years brought to the fore talented local up-and-coming young design talent in the South Africa fashion industry. Previous winners of ELLE New Talent include: David Tlale, Frances Andrews (Library label) and last year’s winner Tiaan...
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