Tomorrowland UNITE Opens 5 New Stargates
The dream-makers of Tomorrowland have opened 5 new portals to throw the biggest party in the universe. Sixteen years ago, the Concorde Millennium flights bent space and time with the edgiest New Year’s Eve party idea ever – board a flight in Paris at 00:15 on the 1st of January 2000, fly across the Atlantic at twice the speed of sound, and land in New York at 21:53 on the 31st of December 1991. Like Concorde, the Tomorrowland Festival has been offering partygoers a unique experience that transcends boundaries, and this year they too will bend and meld time and space with an expanded Tomorrowland UNITE. On the 23rd of July, a satellite connection will livestream the Festival in Belgium to Colombia, Mexico, Germany, Israel, India, Japan and South Africa. The Love, Unity, Madness and Magic of the Tomorrowland main stage will be beamed from De Schorre across three continents and several time zones. Live local DJ sets will also be streamed between the different UNITE sites and the main event in De Schorre. The connection will go live at 20:30 CET, when the Colombians are finishing lunch, and terminate at 00:00 CET when dawn breaks in Japan. The mythic and miraculous Mirror to Tomorrowland will ‘hang’ at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg. The full international and local line-up as well as ticket sale details will be announced on Monday, the 16th of May. Take a sneak peek into the Mirror at http://www.tomorrowland.com/en/unite if you need any more convincing that this will be one of the most spectacular, mythic, music dream-experiences that the world has ever...
The SA Fashion Week SS16 Collections – Part 5: Scouting Menswear in Association with GQ Magazine
Words by Ludwig Spies Photography by Simone Oranje Additional photo edits by Stuart Hendricks 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. Floyd Avenue SS16 The winner of SS16 Scouting Menswear presented a relaxed collection of manzanilla-toned khaki. Apart from some Indian silhouettes, the palette, overall-style suits and leather strap harness details are solidly located in the safari trunk of a gentleman explorer. Hombré SS16 Poison green, black and snakeskin warn onlookers that a bite from a boy who wears this collection will take you down in 10 minutes. Dangerous, seductive and slick. Non-European SS16 The calm silhouettes and light fabrics contain hints of Asia and Africa, but the collection strongly hearkens back to North America before the arrival of Europeans. Feather accoutrements, and bead and embroidery detail around the collars adorn the garments with a dreamy, mythic quality. Zamaswazi SS16 Zooty blocks and strips of colour, pleats, grid patterning, and unusual Springbok skin detail offer the perfect ensemble to the modern dandy. It’s uptown funk with a slightly inflated ego. House of St Luke SS16 This collection is a vibrant, heady mix of tropical prints and colours. Afro-Asian headdresses are combined with candy-coloured sport shoes and country club shorts. It’s the kind of psychedelic you’d expect from African expats on the Paris art scene. Martelle Ludik SS16 Dark, brooding fabric, dishevelled layers, tears and largeness create a heavy, gritty and aggressive collection that unashamedly seeks to arouse and challenge anyone who sees it. The collection boldly moves beyond androgyny towards genderqueer and gender-bending. Rogue SS16 The winner of Scouting Menswear AW16 returned with another collection true to the post-apocalyptic, urban inspirations of the brand. The palette and cuts are cool, stark and functional, and this mood is entrenched by the plastic buckle-clip details. Grey concrete and windswept coastlines come to...
The SA Fashion Week SS16 Collections – Part 4: Cape to Cairo
By Ludwig Spies Photos courtesy of planetivan.com 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. By DS SS16 The high-sheen, sultry outfits printed with West and Central African designs possess all the sensual flamboyance of those regions. Interestingly, the warm, ceramic palette, geometric patterning and some of the sexier cuts would not be out of place in ‘60s America and Britain. Loayo Art & Creations SS16 (Accessories by EG Jewellery) This collection most strongly showcases Arabic influences on African garments. Each ensemble includes a unique headdress carefully assembled to complement the outfit. The Post-Impressionist faces printed on some pieces seem drawn from paintings of island cultures by Gauguin – a social statement, perhaps? African Style Story SS16 A somewhat muted collection that turns away from finery. Simple and plain, the garments carry a strong mood of traditional honour and quiet dignity, and resemble those worn by women along the East African coast. Urban Zulu SS16 The white-cloth pieces of this collection possess all the virginal dignity of traditional Zulu attire. The dark-cloth pieces, however, constitute a gritty glamorous, surreal and brooding contrast that fully explains the name of the label. Liz Ogumbo SS16 Resplendent, regal African ensembles live comfortably next to reimagined colonial safari gear for women. Although the European garments retain their traditional cuts and arrangements, they are Africanised with boldly patterned and coloured fabrics....
The SA Fashion Week SS16 Collections – Part 3: Desmoiselles de Paris
Words by Ludwig Spies Photography by Simone Oranje 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. Keys Fashion SS16 All the fantasy of the grand Parisian showhouses, and perhaps of some more scandalous establishments, thrives in this collection. Shimmering mermaid dresses, seductive gauze, sequins and feathers were followed by solemn, baroque gold and white pieces. Frivolous indulgence followed by a moral check. Rubicon SS16 (Accessories by Skyler T) It seems ironic that a brand named after something intimately associated with irrevocable change should so excellently create something distinctly from a previous era. The textures and arrangements are faultless ‘30s glamour that seems to say: “You can never be too rich.” ...
A love song for our strange and wonderful country: My Mzansi Heart
My Mzansi Heart sweeps the reader along two equally entertaining narrative strands, one set in the present day, the other in the past, which together form the story of King Adz’s life. The book explores music, culture, food, urban youth culture in South Africa based on King Adz’s life. His writing style is rather gripping, engaging and conversational. Represents chats to him about his latest book. Firstly, I’d like to say congrats on such a relevant, easy yet engaging read and it’s also visually appealing, your advertising and creative background comes out in how the book is layed- out, was that a conscious decision to structure the book like this? Thanks. I had always wanted to write a graphic novel and this was my chance. I had been working on the idea of this book for many years, ever since leaving South Africa to work in New York, and everything fell into place when Jacana published by youth advertising book THE STUFF YOU CAN’T BOTTLE, which lead to a conversation about MY MZANSI HEART. I had many “AHA” moments while reading the book because you talk about things i can identify with while you’re telling your own story. Tell us more about My Mzansi heart? MMH is a piece of my soul distilled onto the page. I have never written anything so personal (it is my 5th book) or so artistic. My previous books were about advertising and street/youth culture but MMH is something else. I wanted to re-define what my work was really about, and this reflects how amazing South Africa is as a country that this book was born out of it. How was the writing process? I write everyday and by now I have the discipline to be able to sit there and work without having to go out and ‘enjoy’ myself, lol. I wrote two books last year as well as travelling and working as a brand consultant across Africa. The two seem to go hand in hand! One was MMH and the other was my next book about how brands have to behave if they want people to like them – so chalk and cheese. How long did it take you to finish the writing the whole book? The concept took a decade. From start to finish. But actually sat at my iMac actually typing and designing it took a year. What triggered the idea to write My Mzansi heart? Reading ‘My Traitors Heart’ by Rian Malan was the beginning of it all. I don’t want to give away too much as you need to read the book, but reading Rian’s amazing book got...
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