As 2024 draws to an end, we have compiled a list of our top 9 fashion moments of the year. Some are moments we curated for you, others are events that we believe are transformative and progressive for fashion. And then, although, we don’t think this podcast is going to change the world, we added British fashion designer Bella Freud’s Fashion Neurosis podcast.
Thank you for reading us this year. After our break, we’ll be back with more stories for you to read, more inspiration for slower, sustainable living and more events to attend.
Fashion Accounts at Museum Africa
Tennis Series portrait of Tebogo Ribane, 2014. Photo by Andile Buka
On 14 November, Fashion Accounts, a show that focuses on the absence of black South African fashion histories within museum collections, opened at Museum Africa in Newton, Johannesburg. The show will run until June next year and was curated by South African fashion designer and artist Wanda Lephoto, London-based fashion curator and researcher Alison Moloney, and South African fashion curator and academic Erica de Greef. With items from the museum’s archives juxtaposed with carefully selected contemporary South African fashion, the provocative exhibition inspires conversations about how fashion has been construed and shows how previous interpretations are being deconstructed, and new ones constructed. It’s highly recommended.
Confections x Collections
IAMISIGO at Confections x Collections. Photo by Paige Fiddes
This year, for the 125th anniversary of Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel, Twyg co-produced this special edition of Confections x Collections. For the first time, the fashion event featured two designers from Nigeria, alongside two South African designers, and culminated in a group show with all the Confections x Collections alumni, held on the hotel’s Palm Avenue. It’s a wonderful showcase and celebration of slow African fashion narratives.
You can view photos from the event and read about each designer’s show here.
Twyg Sustainable Fashion Awards
Guests hear about winners of the Twyg Awards. Photo by The Dollie House
The sixth annual Twyg Sustainable Fashion Awards took place on 20 November 2024 in the Planet Room of Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel, in Cape Town. This year, 10 remarkable designers, businesses, and brands were honoured for their commitment to sustainability, social impact, and driving positive change across fashion, textiles, design, and retail. The 2024 Awards were made possible thanks to the generous support of Markham (a TFG brand), Country Road, H&M South Africa, Polo South Africa, Husqvarna, Spier, and Royal Flush Gin.
See the full list of winners and read more about them and their work here.
Wanda Lephoto is GQ South Africa’s Sustainable Designer of The Year
At the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2024, Wanda Lephoto received the Sustainability Designer of the Year award. We are big fans of Wanda. His eponymous brand “redefines luxury dress using the plurality of culture, tradition, identity and history through storytelling as a way to create new worlds of beauty in fashion”. His fashion centres care and consideration, and aims “to unite people and cultures using fashion as a tool for change”. We salute you, Wanda!
Find out more on the Wanda Lephoto website.
Africa Textile Talks
Sammy Oteng from The Or Foundation on stage. Photo by The Dollie House
Our Africa Textile Talks brought together visionary makers and thinkers from South Africa and across the continent who are leading the fashion and textile industry towards a positive, post-fossil fuel future. The event featured inspiring talks on topics such as responsible wool production, the future of hemp in South Africa, lessons on circularity from Ghana’s Kantamanto Market, and more. The event was supported by Sappi, Cape Wools SA, Mohair South Africa, H&M, Hemporium, Merchants on Long, Pedersen + Lennard, V&A Waterfront, Polo South Africa, Spier Wine Farm and Global Organic Textile Standard.
Read the key takeaways from this year’s Africa Textile Talks here.
Tradition(al) exhibition
The opening event of Tradition(al) in Nairobi. Photo by Ian Gichohi
Traditional(al), an exhibition at Circle Art Gallery in Nairobi, ran from 4-14 April, as curated by Kenyan cultural producer Sunny Dolat, The show featured diverse works by creatives like MAXHOSA AFRICA, Lukhanyo Mdingi, and IAMISIGO, who are challenging colonial and monolithic perceptions of African fashion. The designers were selected for how their work draws inspiration from their cultural roots and heritage, reflected in their branding, interpretation of traditional garments, practices, and motifs in prints, weaves, and knits. The show formed part of the State of Fashion Biennale 2024.
Read more about the Tradition(al) show here.
Bella Freud’s Fashion Neurosis
Bella Freud launched a fashion podcast in November
This year, London-based fashion designer Bella Freud launched a weekly fashion podcast, Fashion Neurosis. Daughter of the painter Lucian and great-granddaughter of psychoanalyst Sigmund, Bella puts an artistic and fashion-centric spin on the psychoanalytic form of interviewing, inviting “analysands” to lie on her couch to discuss the intersection of fashion and identity. Guests include Rick Owens, Jonathan Anderson, Erica Cantana, Kate Moss (who has a fabulous cackle and freely uses swearwords) and Zadie Smith. It’s a clever idea and makes you feel like you’re eavesdropping on close friends having an intimate catch-up. There are some shocking revelations about modelling in the 80s—before #metoo—and loads of intimate insights about why and how we wear (and don’t wear) clothes. You feel like you’re getting a glimpse into the lives of Bella’s rich, famous friends.
Visit the podcast here.
SARS takes on Shein
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has increased taxes on imports from foreign e-commerce sites like Shein and Temu. Clothing items are now subject to a 45% import VAT and customs duty, sparking public outrage among consumers drawn to imported, cheap, fast fashion. The policy hopes to encourage shoppers to support South African products and strengthen the local economy.
Our Instagram Explainer captured public interest, sparking a mix of celebratory comments and discussions about the vital role sites like this play in providing South Africans earning minimum wage access to trendy, plus-sized, and affordable clothing.
Mohair at Design Academy of Fashion
Felted mohair look by Luthandolwethu Pase. Photo by Kim van Zyl
The second-year students at Design Academy of Fashion collaborated with Mohair South Africa, creating looks to suit the theme ‘My Story Unravelled’. SAMIL Natural Fibres provided the students with yarns and they took part in a series of mohair workshops over the year. The students explored texture, colour and techniques, from crocheting and knitting, to wet felting and weaving. The results—showcased at the end-of-year fashion show—were a spectacular display from the future of South African fashion. We believe that this collaboration is transformative, as it gives future designers and fashion stakeholders a deep insight and experience of working with a South African natural fibre.
Read more about the project and interviews with the winning designers here.
- Main image features Adeju Thompson of Lagos Space Programme at this year’s Confections x Collections. Photo by Candice Bodington
