By Thobile Mazibuko 
1h ago
The wait is over, South African Fashion Week (SAFW) is back with an exciting season of Spring/ Summer 21 Digital Collections, which will be held at the Mall of Africa.
An annual calendar event for 23 years now, SAFW will see South African designers showcase their latest collection.
SAFW starts on April 29 and will run until May 1.
Ahead of the prestigious fashion event, here’s a breakdown of the designers to look out for.
Day 1
Emerging designers under the New Talent Search will be the first ones to showcase.
All eyes are on Micheal Ludwig, who will reveal one-size-fits-all garments.
About the collection, he said: “We worked with masculine and feminine colours, combining them to not gender categorise colours.
“Another thing I love about this collection is that a few of our pieces are one size fits all.
“On a very skinny person it would be this cool oversized vibe and then for someone a bit bigger, it fits them loosely, but not as oversized.
“I’m happy to see how everyone interprets the collection.”
The second show of the day is dedicated to the Satiskin Rise and Shine Collections, who are showcasing for the first time under a new brand, Carla Pinto and Zydia Botes of Romaria.
The pair started working together in 2016 when Pinto was still designing for African Style Stories.
Botes helped Pinto to put together three looks of knitted kimonos and a jumpsuit.
Following the great feedback they received, they decided to team up and form Romaria- an exclusive knitwear label.
On what to expect from this collection, Botes said: “All of our fabrics are custom knitted for us, so it’s exclusive.
“You won’t find these fabrics anywhere else except in our collection.
“We’ve used old samples, and we had a few rejects lying around, but we upcycled them into funky accessories such as hairbands and little clutches and bags. “
Day 2
Be on the lookout for Bam Collective, a brand by Jacques Bam.
Bam, who started showcasing at SAFW in 2019 and has been passionate about fashion since he was a kid.
He used to re-design outfits for his favourite TV characters using paper.
When he was 16-years-old, his friends bought him his first sewing machine as a birthday gift that he didn’t even know how to use until he went to fashion school.
On the inspiration behind the collection, he said: “This season my collection is called escapism.
“It’s a collection that’s inspired by my fascination and my admiration for using clothing to escape whatever that is bothering me at a certain stage.”
Last day
This day has been reserved for menswear with Ephymol being one of the designers to keep an eye on.
He has partnered with Maria McCloy, and he’ll be showcasing a collection inspired by the Sophiatown movement.
On how the collection came about, he said: “I have so much fabric in my storeroom, and I sat down with Maria McCloy and told her I’m going to make one shirt.
“I looked at the fabrics and found a unique one, and it inspired the whole collection.
“So I made one shirt, threw it on my floor and whenever I went in, and out of my studio, I would look at that shirt and everything just connected.”
Check out all the tickets information and shows schedule here.