From Paris Fashion Week to the homegrown runways of South Africa Fashion Week and Cape Town Fashion Week, it’s been a busy year for the fashion world. For the Mother City there’s been an extra hurrah in the form of the Khayelitsha Fashion Week that made waves at the Artscape Theatre Centre in May.
Ten designers from Khayelitsha and surroundings areas took part in this year’s event that marks the sixth edition of Khayelitsha Fashion Week. This year’s event featured a mix of newcomers as well as designers who are starting to carve out names for themselves. The showcased designers included the likes of Simply Mooi, Clive M Couture, Aya Clothing, and Apachi Royalty Garments.
Khayelitsha Fashion Week has been working hard to be a springboard for emerging designers, whose roots are in the township, but whose designs are targeted for broad appeal. Celebrating roots means celebrating the township, the kasi, of Khayelitsha. In isiXhosa, the township’s name means “new home” and came about 40 years ago as part of the Apartheid regime’s policies of segregating people along racial lines and also keeping services, amenities and opportunities reserved for whites. Over the past four decades, Khayelitsha has grown to be one of the biggest townships in South Africa, alongside Soweto, Tembisa and Langa.
Simply Mooi
Khayelitsha Fashion Week is an initiative to push back against the single-story narrative that townships are only about crime, poverty and dead-ends, especially for younger residents. It’s a celebration of creative entrepreneurship and the energy and vibe of the kasi, and the way kasi life influences trends and fashion. It’s also about how this can go beyond the boundaries of race and the legacies of segregation.
Khayelitsha Fashion Week started in 2018 as the brainchild of local radio host Bongani Matenjwa and fashion enthusiast Zuko Langeni. Their dream and ambition was to create a platform for designers in their community and to find a way to help them build their brands and to find new exposure and new markets. That dream became Khayelitsha Fashion Week.
Apachi Royalty Garments
For designer Zughdi Mohammed, of Apachi Royalty Garments, the annual event has become a way to bring the influences of street culture to his designs. His creations are marked by the use of scrap materials and leftover fabrics. He says the idea of using scrap is symbolic of saying that current circumstances don’t define someone’s future.
“The scrap fabrics I use do not limit the success of my end products. My designs display authenticity. I try my best to research what is trending in the market, take that information, and design it into my garments. But, I’m also about setting trends, not following them,” he says.
Zughdi adds that he wants his designs to be about potential and the stories from the townships – the sometimes overlooked places. “My designs display artistry and represent my creativity and thoughts throughout the production process. They tell stories of the hidden underrated talents that are birthed in the ghetto. With every design, I aim to display and show off that you can accomplish anything you put your mind to,” he says.
Apachi Royalty Garments
For Ayabonga Buhlungu, from Aya Clothing, Khayelitsha Fashion Week has been an essential learning experience. “As a first-timer showcasing at Khayelitsha Fashion Week, I’ve learned a lot from bhuti Bongani on how to do things and I was also blown away by the reactions from the audience towards my garments,” says Ayabonga.
“Unfortunately most people in Khayelitsha don’t really care about creating environmentally friendly garments because of a lack of information. My understanding of sustainable fashion is that it’s a way in which brands create and produce clothing without having a negative impact on the environment and are mindful of the people who produce these garments. In simple terms it is fashion that is ethically made and is environmentally friendly,” adds Ayabonga.
For the Clive M Couture brand, Khayelitsha Fashion Week is a way to bring more glamour to fashion, especially in evening wear. “I love high fashion clothing and I always close my collection with a haute couture evening dress,” says Nkcubeko Mfaca of Clive M Couture.
For these designers, Khayelitsha Fashion Week means exposure to new audiences and much needed experience in how to design a collection for a runway show. It’s also a chance to meet with other creatives and those in the fashion space. It deepens networks and opens up for new opportunities. Most importantly, it’s about motivation to continue with what they’re doing.
“I have been part of Khayelitsha Fashion Week since the beginning and presenting in it has exposed me and my brand to many people and attracted different customers. That has pushed me to new heights and helped me gain a better understanding of what it is that I’m doing,” says Nkcubeko Mfaca.
Half a decade later, Khayelitsha Fashion Week is going strong. It’s still about raising up unknown talent, creative entrepreneurship, and the power of cross-cultural engage that brings together people from different races, cultures and ethnic groups who are united in fashion and creative expression.
- To keep up to date with Khayelitsha Fashion Week, follow them on Instagram @khayelitshafashion
- Photos: Images supplied by designers
