Publications
Partners
Your fashion choices make a strong statement about who you are, and many celebrities don’t care about the statements they make. That brings me to some of the 2017 moments that made us love and hate fashion:
Favourite red carpet moment
The highlight of the inaugural Mzansi Magic awards was this astonishing umbhalo print dress worn by TV personality Thembisa Mdoda. What’s so special about this dress is that designer Theodorah Nomthandazo Zulu is fresh out of fashion school and created the print herself. Mdoda says Zulu even had to copyright it due to the high demand for the fabric.
Red carpet faux pas
I can’t remember a moment when Khanyi Mbau’s fashion choices wowed me. Mbau recently wore this purple sequinned dress to the Sansui Summer Cup. The stage hair turned heads, but for all the wrong reasons. With the fishnet stockings, purple feather accessory, massive chandelier earrings and embellished purple shoes, it was a mess.
Designer to watch out for
Thanks to starlets like Thando Thabethe and Thembi Seete, fashion house Scalo by Sello Medupe has risen to prominence this year. From chic dresses and showy dinner gowns to fashion-forward menswear, Scalo should be every serious fashionista’s red carpet designer of choice in 2018.
Trends
This was the year that high fashion and streetwear perfectly merged, with touches of retro outcast clothing items.
- Statement tees made a big comeback, with vintage band tees, logo tees and woke fashion T-shirts incorporated into formal wear. Global fashion search platform Lyst recently released its Year in Fashion 2017 report, saying that searches for slogan tees increased 105% this year, encouraging many designers to embrace feminist or political messaging.
- Inspired by the louche loungewear of the 20s and Coco Chanel, pyjamas broke out of the bedroom. I’m not just referring to pyjama shirts by day but an array of night gowns, silk robes, slinky camisoles and pyjama-style silk trousers that made their way to the streets.
- It’s disco inferno! There’s no better way to make a statement than with glitter or metallic boots. Metallics were back in a big way, with gold, silver and even holographic clothing for a retrofuturistic look. Special mention to the Saint Laurent Niki crystal embellished boots that cost $10 000 – or you could just get pink metallic boots from MRP for R80.
Return of nostalgic sportwear brands
- Identifiable by its Omini logo, Kappa was once closely tied to soccer and known as the territory of soccer hooligans across Europe. But, the brand has hit the ground running, playing up its heritage to win a place in the wardrobes of celebrities and fashion bloggers.
- Fila never truly disappeared from the cultural radar. As with Kappa, once the Kardashians were photographed wearing the brand, its status in the fashion world shot up to the top.
- Vans Old Skool swooped in and replaced Adidas Stan Smiths as fashion’s favourite sneaker this year. The Old Skool skate shoe was everywhere on international spring/summer 2017 fashion week front rows and runways. It taps into the same sense of nostalgia that the Stan Smith does, and you can pair it with jeans, skirts and even long dresses – anything goes!
- Along with the Old Skool, the Nike Cortez was the It sneaker. The sleek versatility of the Cortez means it can be easily styled with almost all outfits. Designed in 1972, the Cortez is credited as being one of the first long-distance running shoes.
