MTN Durban Fashion Week: Life by Andre Martin
In any Durban café, club or event where a sophisticated dress code is required, you will notice a common trend – the garments of Life by Andre Martin have become the standardized uniform for these settings. Hailed as one of the most successful menswear designers in the country, Life by Andre Martin is a brand that is synonymous for sophisticated chic street wear. In his latest collection, we see Martin continuing his historic versatile style, by balancing street wear with semi-formal pieces. He further unveils a new denim wear range and adds a touch of sensuality to this collection with his newly developed ladies range.Martin’s inspiration for this collection is the people that provide the oxygen to the brand – the consumers. Through conversing with the public at his various boutiques stores around the country, Martin has infused their input in developing this collection, putting them at the centre of his designs.
The street wear aspect of the collection reflects a palette of colors and styles. I especially like his menswear’s golfers that give a cool and relaxed look. A disappointing feature of the street wear aspect was the inclusion of the menswear denim jacket with the number eight boldly printed in red on the back – a repetitive piece from the last collection. He could have at least changed the number! Denim was the choice of fabrics in this aspect of the collection.
The semi-formal aspect of the collection reflects traditional black and white color trends. The ‘little black dress’ piece, a tribute to Coco Chanel, was a nice touch to the collection which reflects the diversity, energy and chicness of the brand. In true Life style, Martin had a few pieces with his famous white collared shirt, though I hoped he had done more with it – repetitiveness does reflect consistency but also a lack of innovation. Overall, Martin’s collection was excellent and did get the crowd in a frenzy, especially the part when topless male models showing of their well toned physiques where throwing t-shirts to the audience. He nearly caused a riot! This weekend I will be hitting Durban’s famous Florida Road strip where I know will be seeing the Life’s uniform everywhere.
Words by Aarif Saib. Image courtesy of the MTN Durban Fashion Week photographer Simon Deiner.
