Tomorrow's Society.

conversations about eco-fashion and sustainable apparel usually bore me. not because i'm not for it, because i am. it's just all the talk has become painfully boring. however, i find myself rather looking forward to an event i rsvped to on fb - been pondering over the concept of recycled clothes and the creative possibilities involved.

TOMORROW'S SOCIETY - thought up and headed by the creative thinkers over at Capsule Creative - is a project/event that aims to promote sustainable fashion. it's an innovative and inspiring concept involving your unwanted clothes and the skills of some local designers and photographers. clickity click here to check out the event page.

we're on to phase 2 already - the recycling/creation process. only a few weeks until the designs and images are revealed. here are the deets:

When: 25th June 2009 @ 6pm

Where: Vida Wembley Square

The Designers: Christopher Strong. Cameron Foden. Timothy Wang. Natasha Liebenberg of LiebenCut. Juliane Visnjic of Unknown at Mungo & Jemima.

The Photographers: Brett Rubin. Natasja Fourie. Justin Badenhorst. Leah Walker. Jesse Leigh Elford.

see you kids there.

damn synthetic stitching.

while on a mission to find a winter coat last week, i stumbled upon these insanely on-trend harem pants - 100% viscose, drop crotch and perfectly tailored - at Promod. have you heard of them? no? neither have i. anyways, the sales assistant tells me they were marked down from R490 to a measily R80. my only guess is that the "the drop-crotch" is not yet a favourite with the ladies, hence the steep price cuts? similar pieces have appeared in a number of local collections - Christopher Strong by Elaine du Plessis (Elle SA June 09) and Stiaan Louw (Design Indaba Magazine 1st Quarter 09) - and they're going at about R750-R1200 a pop. so, yeah, can you say "bar-gain"?

one minor problem though. they're purple. not feeling the purple so much. the idea was to dye them navy, cause i'm really feeling the navy this winter, but a trip to the local tailors this afternoon didn't quite go as planned. unless i didn't mind sporting a pair of navy trousers with v. visible plum purple stitching, no dyeing would be taking place. damn synthetic stitching! i hate you. 

i'm gonna have to force myself to feel the purple. i'll let you know how it goes.

A Collaboration Made in Heaven: Stiaan Louw "The Next Generation" Campaign shot by Brett Rubin

i know that these images have already been well, if not over-circulated. i also know that you've done the jaw-drop. i know you did, because i did too. Stiaan Louw seems to be the go-to words on the fashion scene atm and i hate to be predictable but when i mentioned being blown away by some menswear lines in my recent "menswear on exhibit" post i was no doubt refering to Stiaan Louw's new collection... but i guess you knew that already.

so we know the clothes - besides being pure perfection - has got everyone who cares about fashion talking local and talking menswear, which is more than enough reason to be loving Louw. i will rant no more. but if we take focus away from the clothes for just a second what we have here basically is a killer advertising campaign! Brett Rubin, who recently did a fantastical (v. Liebovitz in terms of it's majestic-ness) fashion editorial for the latest issue of the Design Indaba magazine, has made this the most inspiring local collaboration i've seen for a longtime. it's interesting that we're slowly picking up on the international advertising trend of designer/photographer collaborations. i recently saw something similar with local streetwear label 2bop and South African photographer, Xander Ferreira.

to put it simply - Rubin has done for Louw what Juergen Teller has done for Marc Jacobs and i love him for it.

the hedonist in me.

ACNE SS09 has me aching with envy. the dresses are crazy beautiful this season - it's a pleasure just to look (and drool). i'm always so impressed with their stuff and really surprised at how they're not more well-known around town. maybe, more so since their collaboration with Lanvin on a capsule collection. i have a tingling feeling that these elastic strap sandals were made for me, though. hmm. yes, i'm aware that it's almost full-blown winter in the Cape Town and a pair of elasticated sandals really shouldn't be the apple of my eye, but i've always been guilty of wearing inappropriate shoes for the weather so that's really not an issue here. the angle of the photo doesn't do the shoe much justice, but please trust me when i say, they are beeeautiful. i'm impartial, perhaps. i've been gaga over shoes with thick elastic straps since Marni did some a few seasons ago. gosh, these "shoe envy posts" are becoming rather frequent, aren't they? but i guess when you want but can't have, the only thing left to do is wish... and blog.

menswear on exhibit.

so doing some morning reading and mr berry over at we-are-awesome touched on a subject that got me thinking. last week, South African menswear designer, Cameron Foden chose to showcase his collection as an exhibition as opposed to a catwalk show. it got me wondering whether that has anything to do with how Foden wants his collection to be received? or how any designer who chooses to "exhibit" their collection wants to be received?

there is certainly a trend of designers choosing to "exhibit" their collections in an open space where the pieces can be taken in, carefully viewed and discussed. i like the process of viewing and being given the time to process what you see, which as most know is just not case with catwalk shows. model no.1 enters, struts her stuff and before you know it model no. 2 is out and your eyes don't really know where to go. it's all too quick and the whole scene sort of reminds me of those flashy MTV ads. this debate really echoes the fashion vs. art debate. traditionally, fashion belongs to the catwalk and art/design belongs to the gallery, but the lines are clearly blurring here.

i haven't yet seen the entire collection, but i'm really impressed with what i've seen so far. the collection reminds me a lot of British womenswear designer, Louise Goldin's SS09 collection, which i expressed my love for not too long ago on the blog. i think it's the structuralism and geometrical padding that has my brain jogging.

i've felt a little out of touch with local fashion since i've returned. i think i'm slowly getting back on track though. so far, however, i've been blown away with the cuts and shapes seen in a number of menswear lines, which is great for the guys. i don't think i can hear another male complain about how women have "soo much" to choose from and work with and they have "nothing". you boys are slowly running out of excuses.

Ponystep chats to Susie Bubble.

check out this interview with Susie Bubble on Ponystep! i have a lot of love for both fashion pages. i had the honour of interviewing both Richard Mortimer, the man behind Ponystep and Susie Lau of Style Bubble not too long ago. on the eve of the launch of Ponystep, Richard shared with me his hopes and dreams for his online magazine. now, almost a year down the line, Ponystep is doing exclusive interviews with some of the most high-profile individuals on the music/film/fashion/art scene. the guy, no doubt, has connections. Miss Bubble has long been considered blogging royalty and the media has interviewed, scrutinised and questioned the hell out of her, but there's been little coverage of her since she landed herself an editorial position with Dazed Digital. Ponystep's Pippa Brooks gets down and dirty in this interview and Susie is more than obliging - as always. get clickity clicking on this kids!

something to talk about: grey gardens

is winter here already? hopefully, we'll get a few more sunny days before we're hit with full-blown wind and rain. perfect day for blogging though. it's only the 19th of the month and i'm so close to hitting my cap, i'm almost scared to blog. i've gotten so use to the luxury of capless internet. wouldn't capless internet make everyone's winter more comforting?

anyhoo down to the nitty gritty. as you know, i love my film as much as i do my fashion and i always try to sneak a post in about it, especially if it has any relation to fashion. if you've been anywhere near fashion sites/blogs in the past few days you'll know the buzz words have been "Grey Gardens" - not so much the 1975 documentary directed by the Maysles Brothers (which i'm dying to get my hands on!) but more the bio film featuring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lang which aired on HBO in the US just a few hours ago.

Grey Gardens is the name of the mansion home that Jackie Onassis's eccentric aunt and first cousin - Edith "Big Edie" Bouvier Beale and Edie "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale, respectively - lived in, in the 70's. the ladies wardrobe in the 1975 documentary was an huge inspiration to design houses at the turn of the century and the remake is already having a similar affect on the fashion world. everyone is waiting on hands and knees to see the re-visioned wardrobe of Jackie O's infamous relatives in the remake more than 3 decades later. for some the wait is already over.

the lives of this mother-daughter duo is so intriguing. they have no money, no income, live in a crumbling, flea-infested-mansion, yet following the Maysles Brother's doccie of them, became instant fashion icons. another reminder that style has nothing to do with money. it's innate. i have a feeling it's gonna be a hefty wait before this film hits our shores. not dissimilar to capless internet. happy sunday.

Church Street LULU has new vintage stock.

girls, go check it out. that's LULU's vintage stall on Church Street. just got word that she has new stock. "Winter winter new stock has arrived, leather jackets, cowbot boots, 80's boots, horse rider boots, 70's denim, checked skirts and denim." her words not mine. happy shopping!

all good things come in three.

phew. so i'm back in the beautiful Cape Town and finally in sync with my new time zone. the 15 hour flight threw me and the public displays of affection shown by the elderly couple sitting next to me just didn't make the flight any easier either.

nearly all my conversations since getting back in town have begun with, "So how amazing was Asia?" for most i've gone into great detail about my experiences, my observations, my loves and my hates. however, there is one observation i haven't really shared. 

i honestly don't mean to be the stereotype and go into a shallow OTT story about my ups and downs of shoe shopping but this has some depth, i promise. as most will know, Hongkies is considered Asia's shopping haven. they have more brands than China, are cheaper than Japan and happily welcome the consumerist culture. there's a generous choice when it comes to high end shoes. Hong Kongers are more than familiar with Jimmy Choos and Manolo Blahniks - they are available in nearly every main shopping precinct and of course there's always Lane Crawford & On Pedder. on the other extreme, the city's saturated with stores selling dirt cheap shoes imported from China, going at around R70/£5 a pop. these stores can usually be identified by the nasty smell rising from the footwear which is made completely of synthetic material. what they don't have is something for the middle market. mid-price range shoes are difficult to come by. it's either Christian Louboutins or Marv Jacods.

it's not really the type of observation that people are interested in hearing about when they ask about my time abroad. unless, i guess, if you work in the shoe industry... but i found it rather fascinating. especially since everyone in Hong Kong was downplaying the shopping experience in Singapore.

however, when i got to Singapore it was just a whole different ball game. there was so much choice in terms of middle market i might have gone a little wild... and got a little obsessive with the "black is back" trend. i usually have a sister or a friend standing behind me, whispering firmly, "But, don't you already have something like that?" this time however i was a lone ranger. the consequence is above.

Hong Kong - Singapore - Cape Town

another change in location and another heavy dose of jet lag. i will be back with you shortly.