Cutting Cake with Moonchild Sanelly
The moon is an intriguing body. Its shape evolves throughout the month, its gravity pulls on our waters, and it shines the light that stirs love and romance. It’s captivating, and on some nights, has a slightly spooky edge. The same, and more, could be said about Moonchild Sanelly. Despite being told by Idols judges Randall Abrahams and Mara Louw that she wasn’t anything special, Moonchild Sanelly has waxed into a ghetto funk artist bristling with life and authenticity. Her enigmatic sound is the result of a lifelong self-education in Hip Hop, Kwaito, Jazz, Funk and Dance music. A graduate of the ‘University of Authenticity’, as many call the Durban music scene, her music possesses a soulful individuality that speaks of the drumming circles and spoken poetry performances that marked her time there. Moonchild is uninterested in packaging herself into a ‘marketable’ product, as prescribed by any number of industry experts. And her current success as an independent, unsigned artist has shown that this is in fact not necessary. “I don’t want anyone to put a weave on me, and I don’t need to make an English track to gain acceptance from my audience,” she says. For now, both Moonchild and her current PR representatives are very excited about her prospects for collaboration as an independent artist. “There are so many people that I would love to work with and I now have the choice to reach out to them. Record labels often gag creative collaboration based on the argument that the collaboration ‘doesn’t make sense’ or ‘isn’t right’,” she explains. “How can that be true if I am inspired by someone and I believe that we could create something cool together?” The choice to remain true to herself as an artist, and to not as a brand, has resulted in a diverse body of work that resonates with a wide audience. The truly remarkable quality of Moonchild Sanelly is the fact that she proudly and authentically lives the new, vibrant and relevant African aesthetic. This new aesthetic recognises what has come before, and is an afropunk movement rich in cultural innovation. She’s therefore part of the Renaissance that’s redefining what African looks, sounds and feels like. “When I was studying fashion design, I refused to use traditional prints. I don’t have to do that, or any other obvious thing to be African. Anything that stems from me is naturally African. I don’t need to return to the past to claim my identity. I’d rather evolve from it into an original direction,” says Moonchild. “This is something that respected musicians...
PUMA & Trapstar Bring The Noise to SA
by Stuart Hendricks Streetwear aficionados will be familiar with London-based label, Trapstar, and its edgy, urban aesthetic. Trapstar was created from underground, inner-city subculture, with design influences ranging from cinema, photography and music to contemporary art and military references. Their bold, graphic t-shirts and hoodies, tough leather biker jackets, and LDN-repping caps have become a firm favourite amongst the likes of Rihanna, Rita Ora, Iggy Azalea, A$AP Rocky and Cara Delevingne. The brand has truly become an ambassador for a new era of forward-thinking creative minds. To add an athletic edge to their non-conformist streetstyle character, Trapstar have partnered with PUMA to reinterpret Trapstar’s gritty silhouette and add a fresh, injection of athleisure that wouldn’t be out of place in London’s white-wall quarters. The Trapstar X Puma Autumn/Winter ‘16 teaser features the classic PUMA Disc amplified with the iconic ‘white noise’ graphic design of Trapstar. In turn, PUMA’s style has slinked its way into the Trapstar Leadcat. This football-inspired slide is set to become the elevated streetwear item of the year. Completing the teaser trio is the PUMA X Trapstar football jersey. Produced from the same soft, engineered jacquard, with dry-cell technology, as other football gear, the jersey is a tense clash of inspiration merging functional sportswear with underground attitude. Where you would expect a club emblem you’ll find the Trapstar shield The white noise print is incorporated as patch inserts, tying the jersey and the other items into a strong capsule range. The PUMA X Trapstar teaser collection will be available from 17 June 2016 at PUMA SELECT stores in Bree Street, Cape Town and Braamfontein, Johannesburg, as well as selected retailers....
POPArt Centre celebrates 5 years of tangy, razor-sharp theatre
POPArt Theatre & Performing Arts Centre celebrated their 5th year in existence this weekend with another instalment of 24 Hours in The City. At 6pm on Friday evening, six writers randomly drew a different genre and began writing six short scripts. After a speed dating session of sorts between writers, directors and actors, the pieces were cast and rehearsals started on Saturday morning, continuing until 6pm that evening. The end products were a scintillating adventure in dreams, heartache, nostalgia, decadence, laughter and insanity. Split personalities born from repressed and unfulfilled dreams comfort, and compete for first place in the mind of the main character in A Blemished Mind. In Queens of Yeoville two very different women try very hard to resurrect long-shattered dreams by reminiscing and resenting. Velvet Curtain, a fabulously kitsch soap opera parody featuring Baker Street (UK) as theme song, had the audience in stitches with closeted lesbian lovers, dangerous liaisons, amnesia and attempted murder. Sound and light effects used in the paranormal noir Leila proved that a stage production can raise the hair on your neck as well as any mystery thriller on screen. Madness flowered onstage in Who is Michaelangelo?. The audience looks into a flat where a pair of lovers has deteriorated into delusion, isolated irreality and hurtful derision. Concluding the evening, Fat Cat – The Musical thrilled the audience with brilliantly exaggerated characters and absurdist metaphors for addiction. Clever, sharp tragicomedy that sidles up to the audience with an ominous sexiness. Founders Hayleigh Evans and Orly Shapiro have created one of the most edgy cultural spaces in Johannesburg. From the small, poster-clad entranceway that also houses the bar, to the dark performance space where you sit within reach of the acts, POPArt is brimming with all the raw and gritty shimmer of the underground art scene. If that’s something you thought only existed in Paris, London, New York or Berlin, think again – you can find it here at POPArt. For upcoming shows and events go to https://popartcentre.co.za/ or follow them on: Facebook: P.O.P. Art Twitter: @POPArtJHB...
This is cashmink: FRAAS – The Scarf Company Opens Flagship Store in Joburg
FRAAS – The Scarf Company opened its South African flagship store Wednesday evening in The Mall of Africa in Midrand, Johannesburg. The name may be unfamiliar to many, but the company is the largest manufacturer of scarves in the world. The word ‘manufacturer’, however, does not do their craft justice. In fact, words generally fail to fully describe the creations you’ll find in the FRAAS boutique. Painstakingly prepared fabrics are finely woven into a range of scarves, wraps, ponchos and ruanas. Each item will enthrall you with a delicacy and a softness so incredible that you will find it virtually impossible to keep your hands to yourself. As you stroke over the collection of cashmere, silk and virgin wool, it feels as though the fabric caresses you back. The FRAAS House is built on a near-religious passion for textiles. Established in Germany in 1880 by Valentin Fraas, the company has well over 100 years of innovation experience, woven into every new item. Andreas Schmidt, executive director and 5th generation head of the company, recounts how this continuous innovation process led to the creation of their unique, trademarked fabric known as cashmink: “We didn’t set out to make this or that. But we have always been working towards creating, towards discovering, something new and wonderful. When the weavers first presented this fabric, soft as cashmere with the sheen of mink, someone said ‘This is cashmink’.” Cashmink® is a synthetic fabric and no animals are harmed in order to obtain the raw materials, making it a sustainable and ethical alternative to real furs. If you’re bored with simply hanging your scarf around your neck, join FRAAS’s online community and keep an eye out for their new lookbook featuring SA fashionistas and styled by Joburg mode-maker Kennedy Molekwa: Facebook: FRAAS Twitter: @fraas_scarf Instagram: @fraas.scarf...
The SA Fashion Week SS16 Collections – Part 6: Athleisure, Edge & Glamour
The common problem with fashion writing is that we either overlook the most brilliantly conceived and painstakingly produced elements of a collection – or we ramble on, praising, criticising, fainting and gasping to a point where it’s no longer clear whether we’re talking about coats, shoes or an obscure branch of 19th Century philosophy. So we set ourselves this challenge for the SAFW SS16 Collections: reveal the essence of each collection – in less than 50 words. AfrikanSwiss SS16 A hardcore collection with lots of denim, stiffened leather and heavy zipping. Harsh paint splash detail, black ‘oil streaks’, exaggerated patchwork and rough dye patterns on overalls and jumpsuit-styles come together to create blue-collar chic. Esnoko SS16 Relatively plain and conventional arrangements are cut from fabric printed with kaleidoscope patterns. Old school lines and newspaper boy caps contribute to the fanciful mood of the collection and remind of carnivals and colourful townships. Touch of Bling (ToVch) SS16 Looks from 80s New York street-style (think Beastie Boys) gradually merge into sleeker, classical cuts with African hints. Sharp, cool and very much for the night. D.O.P.E. SS16 The perfect streetwear collection for residents who live in cities where temperatures skyrocket in summer. It’s nonchalant, unconcerned and breezy. The racquetball prints on pale colours are fun and pretty without being childish, and the cuts comprise the best of shapely athletic...
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