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Winnie Madikizela-Mandela never had a day when she remotely resembled her problems even when times were tough.
Known for her fashion flair, she always communicated her revolutionary messages through different fashion statements. From her army fatigue, black leather and afro looks as a signature of her defiance to her embracing umbhaco cultural wear, giving permission to young women to follow suit with pride, and introducing the doek in corporate wear and deconstructing the ANC uniform, she goes down in history as a fashion maverick of note.
READ: How Mam’ Winnie changed my life
On Tuesday September 26, Madikizela-Mandela, who died at 81 on April 2 2018, would have turned 86 if she was still alive. City Press speaks to fashion and art curator Odysseus Shirindza about her fashion language. The fashion designer is currently a director at Gallery Momo and takes us through the 10 most important looks throughout the fashion history of Madikizela-Mandela.
Says Shirindza:
In the following 10 images, Shirindza comments on Madikizela-Mandela’s fashion revolution.
1. 80th birthday bash
The outfit is regal but also modern and embraces traditional elements. The stripes on the scarf embrace elements of umbhaco (traditional Xhosa wear). The make-up is flawless but the outfit speaks to modernity embracing cultural elements. The afro says “if you are going to see me for this last time, remember me this way. Let me be the symbol of pride that you aspire to be”. She seems to say it through the afro. The image is pure pride, as the afro is very much attached to us and for her to have her natural hair contrast with the face beat is also reminiscent of those 80s beauty queens. It’s like she is trying to capture the nostalgia of her own youth.
2. The ANC uniform deconstructed
We come from a life of being in uniforms, from school to choirs and churches. As a way of being a part of a people, she stood out but was still a part of the women’s league in a version of that uniform.
3. Mandela Day celebrations with animal print fur
Animal print is synonymous to women of a certain age. For middle-aged women, it has some sense of power and can be sexy without being overtly sexy. It makes her look like this international matriarch. With this outfit, she could be in New York or Paris and still fit in.
4. Winnie, Mandela and Graca in Qunu
Winnie was asserting herself here as the mother of the house, even though she was the former first wife. She is the traditionally recognised wife of this man and this is what the outfit is saying. Traditional clothing states where you are in rank and level and that was intentional so she retained her position and dignity as the mother of the nation and the Mandela family. Here, it is like the queen asserting herself.
5. Winnie in her pearls and weave
Winnie here reminds me of the Felicia Mabuza-Suttle era, those 90s of new wealth and people looking all glamorous and international. When blacks finally got into those spaces and were owning them, a lot of boutiques rushed to dress this wave of new clients.
6. Winnie in Brandfort
While exiled to Brandfort, Winnie was still revolutionary in style, famously spotting doeks and headgear to accessorise her braided look when US senator Edward Kennedy visited her. Another outfit she wore was a T-shirt with her prisoner number printed on her chest, proclaiming her government property on a statement meant to show that no government institution would ever imprison her spirit. This outfit also inspired uZindzi, where she borrowed elements of this when she later made some of her own fiery speeches.
Being under house arrest in Brandfort and having been pulled away from her Soweto home in haste, Winnie did not have much of a wardrobe to work with.
But, this is such a city outfit showing practicality, but someone still in touch with fashion as we forget that Winnie was once young as well.
7. Winnie at the Rivonia Trial
The image is a very clear statement of defiance, that you cannot dictate the law to me in my own land. She did that through how she dressed. She was challenging the system here saying, I will not be obedient, I will not dress in the way you expect me to dress because I am of this land and this is my tradition and the people I represent, and this is where we come from. I won’t wear what you want me to wear when you do not recognise me, she seems to say.
She used fashion as a tool of defying the law in terms of embracing her cultural heritage and making sure that it was recognised in front of the law as our clothes were deemed unsophisticated and to be able to stand in court dressed like that, that drove the point. If you recall, Mandela also wore his traditional clothing on the last day of his trial.
8. Winne at the Rivonia Trial in a two-piece suit
She incorporated Western fashion with cultural elements. The hat is just iconic. Mama wore very beautiful pieces. It is a lovely mix to maintain to look elegant and powerful at the same time.
9. Winnie in afro and black leather suit with a raised fist
This outfit speaks to how conscious she was and how in tune she was when it came not only to fashion but also the liberation struggle movements across the world. She was very much in tune with that. It was an intentional thing to state that the struggle here is also aligned with the struggle in the US. She had reverence for people like Angela Davies who were a part of the leaders of the Black Panther movement and as a sisterhood, dressing alike was a way of saying, I see you and acknowledge what you are also doing (in the US). This was like a code of alliance.
10. Winnie in a doek
In her African queen mode, Winnie here is wearing malachite green gemstone beads and there is a need for her to express our connection to the rest of the continent and she embraced a lot of continental fabric. Winnie embraced a lot of African dress wear and kaftans. It was a message to our people that we are part of the continent. It is a Western-African fabric but it is also tied with a Xhosa swirl and flopping flair. She spoke through her dress sense in terms of where we were in our movement and our progress as a people – fashion played a big part in the messaging that she wanted to put across.
