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Friday, February 23, 2018

#FASHIONWEEK: SA Menswear Week – AW18 Collections


SA Menswear Week (SAMW) AW18 recently took place in Cape Town at City Hall showcasing a variety of fashion and trends for men locally and globally. As always, the big questions are whose collection will come out tops? Who will provide an incredibly creative yet simultaneously commercially viable collection? Whose eye for trends will translate into retail success and will time be spent regretting attending or celebrating the evolution of the designers on this young and prominent platform?

In particular I was not completely wowed. There were some underwhelming moments and there were neutral experiences, however, as with any event in life, there was spectacular bursts of magic – not necessarily from a creative perspective, but essentially from the clear evidence of development, evolution, progression and simply put – a designer’s obvious understanding of who they were designing for.

A great surprise was the inclusion of three Durban-based designers, brought down by the eThekwini Municipality and its fashion platform, Durban Fashion Fair. As with my recently new policy, I’ll focus this review on the collections to note – those collections that left me disappointed will be dealt with directly with each designer. Here’s my pick from the SAMW AW18 installment (in alphabetical order).

ALC MAN presented a collection evidently an extension of its previous SS17/18 collection. The tapestry sewn with connected and interlocking pieces that extend the form and cut of garment into a new shape when worn were in place again. There was an inclusion of dynamic outerwear pieces in the form of Kimono-inspired coats and capes. The colour palette drew from royal blue and earthy beige neutrals, highlighted with pungent reds, deep emerald greens and subdued yellows. Entirely the collection is a great step further from what it originally was and its play on creativity and ready-to-wear allows it to be a dynamic retail ready collection.

Image credit: SDR Photos

Image credit: SDR Photos

Image credit: SDR Photos


The all-female duo from Augustine did it again with a fluid and retail-ready collection. This serving of athleisure was a standard representation of their designs’ accessibility. Combining a number of key outerwear pieces with well-designed everyday items, Augustine provided us with a collection that maximises its versatility to suit a lifestyle completely. I definitely enjoyed how the designers played with subtle details on what would-be basic pieces, turning them into designed designer basics. It’s certainly one of the collections to go-to to find essential wardrobe items for seasons to come.

Image credit: SDR Photos

Image credit: SDR Photos

Image credit: SDR Photos


Good Good Good did the most for me when it came to interpreting their lifestyle, reflecting their understanding of their market, within the structures of popular culture and mass media trends. I particularly enjoyed their evident development from their previous collection and how they switched from artistic, wild-hearted original prints to a slightly subversive manipulation of fabrics, textures and colour combinations. I think a winning factor with this collection is its ability to live within any generation currently present on this earth. It’s more young-at-heart than young-at-age, and that allows its well-finished, complimentary style shaping and luxe comfort levels to exist through seasons, quote possibly making this one of the more resort, trans-seasonal collections yet to be presented at the SAMW AW18 collections serving.

Image credit: SDR Photos

Image credit: SDR Photos

Image credit: SDR Photos


Interesting fabric choices is something the brand, Maxivive, has happened to get right for their career in showcasing on the SAMW platform. The AW18 collection was a clear extension from both the AW17 and AW16 collections, with a few nuances from the brand’s diffusion line MXVV from their AW16 collection. It’s always exciting to see a brand that produces a full product mix – which Maxivive does – showcasing apparel, footwear and bags. The other aspect of Maxivive that continues to rejoice my attention is the series of small design details incorporated that create either a fresh silhouette or dynamic interaction between garment and wearer.

Image credit: SDR Photos

Image credit: SDR Photos

Image credit: SDR Photos


Terrence Bray, I have found in recent years, is one of those designers and brands that you have to step back when viewing and allow the experience to process itself over time. Its take on being more creatively expressive can be humbling and requires you to constantly understand that some items are likely to be watered down for retail viability. I did enjoy this collection presentation, especially because it have a naïve novelty about it that conjured nostalgic memories of childhood, family experiences and innocent adolescence. I also loved the inclusion of plenty of colour and textures.

Image credit: SDR Photos

Image credit: SDR Photos

Image credit: SDR Photos


Tokyo James once again produced a titillating collection for all to behold. Part extension of the previous SS17/18 collection, part new work in collaboration with Vlisco & Co, the collection was a spectacular viewing of great fabrication, colour explorations and motif introductions, with the brand moving on from the spider in the previous collection to introducing ants and what I believe were flamingos in one of the looks. I absolutely loved the bags and cowboy-ish shoes that walked the runway. Essentially a coherent offering, Tokyo James has reminded us with this collection of his strong skills in paying attention to details, understanding of tailoring and his cheeky personality with hints of diva.

Image credit: SDR Photos

Image credit: SDR Photos

Image credit: SDR Photos


Sidebar: Three other brands currently not featured in this post are Kim Gush, Chulaap and Imprint. These three also put out great collections, synonymous with their signature personality traits and design aesthetics, they produced collections that extended on their brand ethos and further confirmed their presence in the market as innovative, fun and dedicated menswear brands. We hope in July, when the SS18/19 collections are presented, we will see more greats come to the fore.

Until next time, happy styling!

#menswear #samw #samwaw18 #fashiontalks

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