What was your nickname at school?

Dieter: I was called “Dee”

Stephanie: Everyone just shortened my name to “Ste”

Did you always know you wanted to be a fashion designer?

Deteri: Pretty much started when I was 16. I couldn’t find a nice fitting pair of bell-bottoms so I decided to make my own. This progressed to some track-tops and t-shirts for the friends. After many years of studying different courses, including jewellery design, I went to study Fashion Design. I am really into my patterns.

Stephanie: I used to sit and watch my mom sew when I was very young and was mesmerized by the fact that she had the power to make anything she wanted. I grew up in quite a design conscious home and it was clear that whatever I would do would be part of the creative industry. I knew it was fashion after I started sewing at night in my mom’s upholstery factory/studio when I worked for her the year after I finished school. I loved figuring out patterns and the whole process.

What gets you going?

Dieter: Music, Love, Craft  Beer and good quality leather goods!

Stephanie: I can be inspired by pretty much anything, it’s a sad answer, but it’s true.

What do you find off-putting?

Dieter: Bad manners, people who are vain and girls wearing white pants with black g-strings. G-strings in general!

Stephanie: People who suffer from Delusion of grandeur, and people who abuse other’s trust.

What book do you casually put out on your coffee table to impress visitors?

Dieter: Frankie Magazine

Stephanie: Frankie Magazine, not to impress, it’s just normally lying there anyway.

What is your favourite item in your closet?

Dieter: So many. Um…. skinny jeans, black v-neck t, check shirt and Vellies.

Stephanie: A sloppy green jersey my Gran knitted for my granddad, it’s the perfect snuggle jersey, and my boxy white silk blouse.

What was your biggest fashion faux pa?

Dieter: The 90’s

Stephanie: I went through a 2 month hip hop stint when I was 16, I had the clear diamante sunglasses, hooped earrings and all. It is very painful to admit to it.

What do you wish people would understand about working in the fashion industry?

Dieter & Stephanie: that there’s very little glamour and that it’s incredibly hard work.

How would you like people to define your label?

Dieter & Stephanie:  Well made, easy wearing, whimsical, vintage inspired, feminine and classic.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

Dieter & Stephanie: We try not to draw inspiration from outside people personas, but rather create a persona for every season and design around them and their lives.

Interesting discussions ensued and workshop participants contributed lively feedback and questions.

As I’m sure you’re aware, the CTFC has overhauled its service offering of workshops for 2012, so please feel free to drop by one of our so-called ‘new’ workshops to see what our facilitators have to say.

For more info please visit our Workshops & Seminars page for monthly updates of our Workshops and Seminars.

Image Credit : Simon Deiner / SDR Photo & African Fashion International (AFI)

Cape Town Fashion Council (CTFC) has hand-picked 10 South African designers to be a part of its umbrella stand at Design Indaba, 02 to 04 March 2012.  The designers – Amanda Laird Cherry, Tart, Lunar, Magents, Coast & Koi, Good Clothing, Ministry4Style, Silverspoon, Selfi and MosewaMosa – will be retailing their Spring/Summer collections 2011/12.  The designers will also showcase their Autumn/Winter 2012 collections via daily fashion shows in the Events Arena at the Expo.  The CTFC exhibition space is exclusively designed by Aidan Bennetts Designs and they have created a space that encompasses an “industrial meets fashion retail” look and feel.  Aidan Bennetts’ innovative and unique approach to design is sure to provide a few design surprises – which is not to be missed.

The council is currently housed under the Cape Town Provincial Government Department of Economic Development.  The CTFC would like to thank the following organisations for partnering with us for this initiative; 36 Boutiques, Aidan Bennetts Designs, XANITA, A&I furniture, the CPUT Technology Station in Clothing and Textiles and BROTHER.

What was your nickname at school?  Didn’t have one!

Did you always know you wanted to be a fashion designer?  Yes, I got my first sewing machine at 8.

What gets you going? Caffeine.

What do you find off-putting? Laziness.

What book do you casually put out on your coffee table to impress visitors? Matthew Williamson’s 10^th anniversary tome.

What is your favourite item in your closet? My Nappa leather jacket bought in Palma, Italy a few years ago.

What was your biggest fashion faux pa? Anytime I’m not comfortable!

What do you wish people would understand about working in the fashion industry? The amount of hard work is involved.

How would you like people to define your label? As the ‘go-to’ label for slip on and go easy pieces.

Who is your biggest inspiration? My mother, for her tenacity.

The National Fashion Council has now been structured and will be launched soon. We will post the dates and details online.

After a nationwide provincial road-trip, the DTI presented the National Fashion Council Business Plan to industry stakeholders; this resulted in the nomination of the new board. The new board with portfolios for the SA National Fashion Council are as follows:

Credit : Simon Deiner / SDR Photo & African Fashion International (AFI)

Provenance of Cape Town based design

Derek Geddes lectures in Design, as well as forms part of the team that handles the Public Relations and Marketing at the Elizabeth Galloway Academy of Fashion Design.  He offers his thoughts and observations on fashion in South Africa every Wednesday night at around 19H45 on the Detour on MFM 92.6 with Lincoln Loxton. Follow him on twitter @Derek_Geddes.

It is our duty as fashionistas’ to encourage the provenance of our beloved craft – Thoughts on the Fashion Industry in Cape Town

Recently while attending Mozambique Fashion Week 2011, I had the privilege of dining with a few of the novas from the Pan-African Fashion scene. Over plates of spicy chicken, powdery Portuguese rolls and with the drone of re-runs of Primeira Liga on the overhead flat-screens, we chatted about our collective struggles faced in the practice of our craft. In our pursuit of a slot at a Fashion Week, this got me thinking, “ Have we forgotten the reason for practicing our trade?”

When asked to pen a piece for the Cape Town Fashion Council Newsletter along the lines of “How will South African fashion be moving forward in 2012?”, I set myself five key areas that I feel need to be addressed. If we hope to make an impact not only on visitors to Cape Town as a Design Capital in 2014, we need to look at how we can sustain the industry that puts artisan bread on our Pierre Cronje tables. So here goes;

A Focused Fashion Week/Event

Fashion weeks are a vital tool in the marketing and commercial endeavors of a design house but it is not the only option. A fashion show is not an apex to the success of a designer and in fact could be detrimental to a business’s cash flow. In a focused fashion week, I would like to see dedicated days and regions to aspects like sportswear, menswear and yes, childrenswear. In addition to these shows we need an all access fashion fringe similar to the Design Indaba style stalls, where buyers, media and public can interact with designers, brand managers and the product. This would hopefully be putting the money back where it belongs – in the product.

Retail Presence

I am pleased to see the expanding of designer’s boutiques up and down the Kloof/Long Street precinct. Take Care, Adrian Kuiters and Babette clothing are all designers who have moved into the traditional brick and mortar store structure. This is a great move forward for two of these labels that started out as flea market stores. Fashion can be an incredible tourist attraction and is an alternative to curios; it affords an insight into a culture’s soul, its people and heritage. Designer stores are a great way to engage with the DNA of a designer’s collection, but this should not be the only vehicle used to get your goods to the public. I am inspired to see how creatives like Heather Moore of Skinny LaMinx combine a store space with an online presence such as an Etsy account. Online outlets like 36 Boutiques and Etsy offer designers the opportunity to get their goods onto the backs of a fashion hungry consumer.

Specialisation

It is time for designers to develop a niche market or product. Specialised crafters can hone their skills and become a sought after artisan, a case in point would be Cape Town based Mat Nielson’s MATBLAC brand. Nielson has focused on a key selection of products fashioned in leather and felt. The MATBLAC collection of wallets, Ipad and laptop cases is focused, purposeful and relevant to the times. Nielson has invested in studio space and machinery that suit the needs of his brand. I would love to be able to point someone in the direction of a designer who focuses on the sartorial endeavors of a great bespoke jacket.

Provenance of Design

When it comes to product presentation, I am shocked at how many local designers do not take into account the standard accepted expectations of garment presentation. Care labels, size tags, shoulder tape, hanger loops are a few items often lacking on designer garments, But what about a label that shouts “Made in Cape Town”. This is all part of how a designer can build confidence in their product and to help educate the customer on the value of the work and thought that has gone into something they are about to purchase. Designers should note that they have a social obligation to inform the customer and educate about their industry. A major part of being the Design Capital in 2014 is how we have an affect on the social and cultural aspects of our creative industries. This goes beyond uplifting of communities through employment but speaks to the very nature of educating a populous to support its local creative industries. In the current situation I feel that the process and culture of our craft is lost, with many designers and retailers sapping the soul of our creative industry and city by going offshore.

Trends

As an independent designer you are at the vanguard of fashion and as such you set trends, Ok got it? We do not want to see a third rate ZARA copy, when we can purchase the real thing in Sandton City. What we would like to purchase is something crafted, worked out and designed by a local designer. Do not get me wrong, trends have their place and are relevant, but on a global scale. I would like to see designers approach trends with their individual unique point of view. Remember your customer determines your approach to trends, if your customer is never going to wear a neon splashed camouflage outfit, give them that as an accessories option instead.

So to get back to my dinner date with the following designers: Kenya’s Liz Ugumbo, Angola’s Mia Mendes, South Africa’s  Shaldon Koopman and Tanzania’s Robi Moro and Ailinda Sawe, everyone engaging in the conversation, had an appreciation for each others’ skill, and each have faced the same hurdles at some stage in their careers. Together we shared thoughts, contact details and helping hands, and departed the Piri-Piri restaurant in the heart of Maputo, Mozambique at 3am. We were well fed not only with food but also with inspiration. Organisations such as Mozambique Fashion Week, Cape Town Fashion Council and others, are realising that to have Design Capitals and Fashion Weeks you need studios filled with skilled hands in which designers can develop ideas and factory floors where these ideas can be manufactured. Realising this leads to shops in which goods can be sold in turn boosting the economic situation for all.

Oscar-winning costumes from  the The Great Gatsby (1974), designed in part by Ralph Lauren, helped immortalize the style of the flapper girls of the Roaring Twenties. We are seeing a major resurgence of this trend, it was tentative in Winter but is now strongly confirmed as Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Alberta Ferretti and Etro amongst others, send their models dazzling down the Summer ‘12 catwalk in all the finery of the flapper.

Trends post courtesy of Nikki van Diermen (Foschini Fashion Office).

Registration is now open for designers who wish to exhibit wholesale sample ranges to boutique and lifestyle retailers at The Designer Boutique Show.

THE SHOW is a trade show for South African designer brands and labels that takes place on 8 & 9 May 2012. An early registration discount of 15% is  valid  until 15 February 2012.

Visit: www.thedesignerboutiqueshow.com

or

contact julia@thedesignerboutiqueshow.com / 083 273 8334