Cape Town Fashion Week ready to refresh, renew and relive SA fashion

With South Africa’s Spring season already in the air, Cape Town is set to dazzle with glitz and glam from August 11-14 as the AFI Cape Town Fashion Week comes to town. The fashion extravaganza will showcase a heady mix of emerging and established designers, who will flaunt their collections for the new season.

With the Mother City’s premier fashion week showcasing the hottest spring/summer ready-to-wear collections at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, it’s not surprising that the theme is “Refresh, Revive, Renew”.  True to its reputation as a cosmopolitan city that’s bursting with edgy creativity and experimental daring, Cape Town will once again take the lead in revealing the latest design trends that are destined to take summer by storm.

Audiences will be presented collections by some of the country’s best-known designers, including ready-to-wear heavyweights Klûk CGDT, Stefania Morland and Craig Port, who will be introducing his women’s wear range. Craig Native makes a much anticipated return to the runway after an absence of a few years and Durban based Ruff Tung make their Cape Town debut.

Swimwear supremo Dax Martin, who recently returned from Las Palmas in Spain, where he was one of only 11 international designers invited to show his most recent collection, will also be vamping up the ramp with his new beachwear creations.

But Cape Town Fashion Week is not only about giving a platform to the big names – it’s committed to showcasing the country’s most innovative up-and-coming design talent as well. Catch emerging designers such as Good Clothing and Coppelia in their debut shows, as well as conceptual designers David West, known for his fun, quirky pieces, and Suzaan Heyns, who is making a name for herself with her avant-garde aesthetic.

Brilliant news is that major clothing chains Foschini and Woolworths have thrown their weight behind the brightest design students from fashion schools to present a graduate collection as well as a mixture of up and coming and familiar designers with emerging talent collections. Both retailers are partnering with the Cape Town Fashion Council (CTFC) who has partnered and worked with African Fashion International (AFI) to manage production and marketing of these shows.

Foschini is also previewing the Stoned Cherrie Love Movement range at AFI Cape Town Fashion Week which, says the brand’s Nkhensani Nkosi, was inspired by global icons and peace lovers the world over.