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Introduction to South African Fashion Week AW18 – October 2017 – Sandton City

For some, fashion week is a parade of superficial socialites snapping perfect pictures of themselves and living le’ good life, but for others it is an expression of art.

At first glance, SAFW is like Cady Heron’s vision of the mall in the Mean Girls film. It becomes somewhat overwhelming thinking about the hundreds of poised and stylish attendees at the shows. It’s so easy to get into your own head about fitting in and sitting front row because somehow that makes you relevant?

But as soon as you realise why you’re there and life is not about fitting into some kind of mould, things become simpler.

For a designer, showcasing their garments on the runway is such an incredible achievement, not because they’ve made a wearable garment, not even because thousands of people will know their names or see their collections, but to have a platform to express their talent and art at their disposal is incredible.

Fashion is art. Expression of that art is Style. Well that is my understanding of it. With the limited body parts we have to dress up, the amount of designs and creative ways to style is proving to be very difficult.

This season, I felt the designs were so smart, sophisticated and wearable that just shows how much creativity is out there. From the materials they’ve paired together to the colours they’ve mixed, the mind is a powerful tool.

At first, when you have a passion, you see endless possibilities in achieving it all, but when you choose to dive into that passion, it becomes your livelihood, your job… and with that passion takes a back seat because you gotta live. The amount of faith you need to have in yourself and in your creations has to be a lot more than just passion. I salute the people who has taken the risks to live the life they want to.

The SAFW staff has done such a fantastic job of making us all feel so important and looked after, spoiling us with tons of inspiration, aspirations for our own creative futures and overall the epic set up of every night.

From the beautiful Sandton City venue, the Woolworths appetisers, Sunglass Hut and Aero photo-booths, and an array of city views enjoyed lounging on the comfortable CoriCraft pieces on the rooftop, they simply went all out!