Day Five – Last night was great. Not sure
what I was so nervous about. Yes, I wasn’t completely dressed to the nines but
that didn’t seem to deter some people’s interest in me. Upon entering the
One & Only’s lobby area, we were directed to the venue for the evening, Nobu.
We
were welcomed by Allana Finley,
Global Brand Manager of AFI and Megan Gotkin of CSA. Once signed in, we were
directed to the bar to get a refreshment and settle in with some good mingling.
I was super grateful when I immediately spotted my great friend, Bee Diamondhead, Jr Fashion
Editor at Marie Claire. She’s such an amazing spirit and having her there made
me feel a whole lot better and less alien.
Allana
Finley started off the evening’s business with a short welcome speech and
gradually introduced us to the players who have been making this platform
happen time and time again and she also introduced us to the man representing
the company making its debut at Cape Town fashion week. First up was, Grant Blackbeard, General Manager
of AFI. Grant touched on the success stories of the platform, also highlighting
Gavin Rajah’s significant
contribution to the platform and his rise to immense fame. Grant proceeded to
congratulate everyone on their hard work and urged media and designers to see
the platform for really what it is, an opportunity to sell yourself as a brand
to consumers and the world.
We
were also greeted by Selvin Govender, Divisional Marketing Manager at
Mercedes-Benz Cars, who was brief and eloquent. Citing his excitement at the
partnership and how the brand has finally recognized the AFI platform as a
strong competing member of the same league as those of Mercedes-Benz Fashion
Week New York, London, Paris, Milan and Stockholm. He mused his enthusiasm at
attending fashion week and it would be great to mingle with some of the
designers at the launch event.
The
head chef at Nobu was kind enough to talk us through the specially prepared tasting
menu, and it was time for the fun and games. I found the atmosphere had relaxed
and when the mingling continued, people started opening up. I was fortunate
enough to meet some really interesting designers, who are humble and extremely
friendly. Also bumped into some merchandisers and buyers.
One
of my favourite highlights of the evening was meeting Keith Henning of Adriaan Kuiters. The young man is
just so proper and dapper. Refreshing really, in a pool of untailored bloke who
bask in the sun behind the scenes and never have to worry about being seen. He
has a great personality, down to earth and clearly living for the moment.
Michelle Ludek of the eponymous
luxury brand was also present and accounted for. She was playing ‘mom’ to a few
people on the night, being dubbed designated driver. There’s something magical
about her aura when she engages with you. She draws your attention in and she
herself is highly attentive to you while you engage. She has a warm laugh too.
I was very surprised to find out she used to design menswear back in her early
days, but decided to move into the challenging womenswear market when she came
to South Africa to set up shop.
Another
man I met last night, whom I’ve been sort of stalking on Twitter is, Simon Deiner, of SDR Photo. It was
interesting to hear from the man behind the scenes and behind all the glorious
images we usually see, what has been happening thus far with fashion week
preparations and how the stress levels were weighing in on everyone. He seemed
pretty chilled for a man whose tweets reveal a frenzied life of sets, music,
lights, models and fabric action. None the less, I dropped a hint or two about
doing some before fashion week coverage and we’ll see what happens from there.
The
night was incredibly fun and I found myself musing at the fact that I was there
and that I was accepted, to a certain degree, as part of the beautiful chaos. I
learnt a great deal about the industry, being fashion media and designers last
night. Spoke to memorable people who shed light on many subjects and have
assisted in opening my eyes to many new adventures.
Special
thanks to Janine Jellars for the
great chat. To Bee Diamondhead
for the awesome company and including me in her entourage. And lastly, to Keith
Henning for offering to dress me for one of the show days at MBFWCT! Am so
grateful and excited.
To anyone else I might have
missed, I’m sorry and I’m grateful for the part you played in making last night
magic for me.
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