Thirty fashion designers from 15 different countries showcased some seriously edgy hauteur couture at the Mercedes Benz Africa Fashion Week last week. What made the event even more memorable was that it wasn’t hosted in South Africa’s ‘go to’ major cities ( i.e. Slaapstad or the usual media hog Joburg), but it all went down in our beautiful capital city, Pretoria, for the first time, just when the purple flowered Jacaranda trees were in full summer bloom.
The gig took place at the Tshwane City hall and, I must admit, I was a bit sceptical of my own hometown’s ability to pull off a major fashion show like this in a better manner than the prominent fashion capitals of the world. But, merely five minutes after arriving at the show, the elegance, creativity and sheer magnitude of the gig eliminated any doubts. Mercedes Benz Africa Fashion Week 2013 was absolutely incredible, and here are five reasons why it rocked.
1. Alek Wek was there
The first African supermodel to feature on the cover of Elle, Alek Wek, who hails from Sudan and was described as “unconventionally beautiful” by a journalist friend of mine, was one of the main attractions of the show. Many South African’s might also know her as the stark black model in the Amarula advert – and man, did I nearly drown in free Amarula! She also gave inspirational messages on Africa being a rising continent and the importance of why African unity matters.
2. The crowd
The fashion and the people not on the run way were just as interesting and, er, weird. I couldn’t help cracking up every time I saw a man dressed in drag, but other, uh, fashionable people from Pretoria’s cool crowd also rocked up. By cool I also mean billionaire Patrice Matsipe, one of the city’s most famous residents, who remained discreet. And, of course, there were a lot of model chicks, some way too skinny for my liking. But the busty Swedish blonde who gave me her numbers will do just fine for me!
3. The Twitter buzz
It’s been about 72 hours since the end of the show and social networks are still buzzing. Actually, props rolled in before the show even started. Referring to how she answered questions at a press interview @alexischaffe said: Alek Wek has all the answers – what an impressive woman.
@Kyle_Boshoff said:#MBFWAFRICA is my favourite time of the year. Such talent and drive on this continent,
and @Mandla_M_ was blown away by one of the designers’ clothes, @taibobacar’s show on Thursday. Your garments were absolutely breathtaking. #MBFWA .
@ZeeZee_Mncwango said; going through @AFI_sa, AFI_fastrack captions felt like I was going through images of an international fashion week. Brilliant.
4. The talent
The show was steaming with sizzling hot talent. Featured designers included Taibo Bacar from Mozambique (winner of the year 2012 Designer of the Year AFI Africa Fashion Awards) as well as Mille Collines from Rwanda, Mina Evans and Duaba Serwa from Ghana, Projecto Mento from Angola and our very own David Tlale and Thula Sindi. At the 2013 Africa Fashion Awards hosted in Joburg, Kluk CDGT took the Designer of the Year title, Gavin Rajah took SA Tourism Designer of the Year Award while Grace Bol was crowned Model of the Year.
5. The off-site venues
One of the event’s off-site venues, Freedom Park, beamed strobe lights during Kluk CDGT’s performance. But it wasn’t after the end of the show when the models all came out and actually walked in the water fountain wearing their garments, strobe lights beaming in the background that the entire crowd gasped in awe. But David Tlale also shut it down at his off-site venue by presenting his collection on a railway platform at Rovos Rail Station in Capital Park. Daaamn!
* Photographs supplied or by courtesy of the Africa Fashion International (AFI) official Facebook page.
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