Mount Nelson’s sustainable fashion showcase brings together South Africa’s most mindful designers
Anyone who knows Cape Town, knows Mount Nelson. A heavenly oasis of calm in the city centre, the hotel’s becoming pink façade and palm-tree lined grounds have been a local landmark since 1899. Visitors down the years have ranged from Winston Churchill to Nelson Mandela and from the Dalai Lama to John Lennon. And today, as part of the global Belmond family, The Nellie has entered a new chapter as a supportive force behind South Africa’s creative community. This intention is felt at every turn. Paintings by emerging artists line the walls (the current exhibition comes courtesy of The Ditau Collection) and tours take guests around the Cape Town’s design quarters. Just a short jaunt from the hotel are the studios of ceramicist Michael Chandler, jeweller Pichulik and milliner Crystal Birch, the concept stores AKJP and Merchants on Long, and galleries such as WhatIfTheWorld and Southern Guild, to name but a few delights.
At the heart of The Nellie’s mission is Confections X Collections (CXC), an annual showcase of South Africa’s slow fashion designers. Now in its second year, the recently concluded five-day salon brought together intimate fashion presentations with an afternoon tea inspired by each designer’s collection. “The event is an incredible opportunity to curate a show that decentres the global fashion narrative. These homegrown designers are doing this with their thoughtful designs and rich storytelling,” says Jackie May, CXC curator and founder of sustainability platform Twyg. “We’re highlighting the work of those who are championing a culture of care, honouring their artisans and celebrating African fashion.”
Thebe Magugu showed at the maiden event and returned this year as guest of honour. It is telling that despite his global rise – the LVMH Prize-winner has collaborated with Valentino, Dior and Adidas and presents at Paris Fashion Week – he still finds the time to support this heartfelt endeavour. “Mount Nelson comes with a lot of inherited history so CXC creates a space where new voices from very opposite contexts can interrogate it, contextualise it, deconstruct it. The beauty of what we do as creatives is redirecting history to instil a vision for the future through our art,” he says.
“My brand is at the service of my people’s dreams because from the cracks in the pavement, flowers can bloom”
WANDA LEPHOTO
In praise of the 2023 line-up (Wanda LePhoto, Viviers Studio, Sindiso Khumalo, Mantsho and Chulaap), Magugu adds: “We’re here to be inspired and enlightened by designers who take their experiences and contexts and funnel them into their collections to develop a unique point of view. This is important in these times when brands are trying to become everything to everyone, which is at the cost of the soul and intention of the output. Their work is also an act of preservation, documenting our micro and macro stories through craft. And that’s what sets South African designers apart. We combine our history and culture with our very forward-looking modernity and nuance. When that comes together it creates a visual language that the world is hungry for now.”
Wanda LePhoto made his Cape Town debut at CXC with a show spanning three collections, ‘People’, ‘Gaze’ and ‘Home Affairs’. Models walked out to the words of Saul Williams’ ‘A Toast to the People’ in loose-fitting suits, knitted polo tops, back-to-school blazers and relaxed raincoats that were all simply but impeccably cut. These silhouettes acted as canvases for flower embroideries, crisp pin stripes, Sophiatown tartans and his most recent statement, a deconstruction of the infamous Ghana Must Go bag, which in his hands is reclaimed and renamed ‘Me Fie – Our Home’.
“Most people who have interacted with these bags are ashamed of them. They’re a signifier of their dark histories of migration from countries that represent war and corruption and coming to a new place where they experience xenophobia,” LePhoto explains. “By stripping the print apart, the way these people’s lives have been pulled apart, we’re exposing a beauty we don’t usually see and allowing new conversations to happen. We are giving the bag power. We’re owning it as a symbol of survival and pride. And we’re building empathy for each other’s journeys. My brand is at the service of my people’s dreams because from the cracks in the pavement, flowers can bloom.”
Unmissable among the looks was LePhoto’s Everyday Resistance t-shirt, a collaboration with Magugu, which commemorates Freedom Day and the right of creative expression and individuality stipulated in the South African Bill of Rights. “We wouldn’t be here it if wasn’t for our parents’ fight for freedom. And now we’re fighting so that the next generation of creatives can have more opportunities.” The T is also emblematic of how the CXC designers support each other and their communities. It’s not dog eat dog; it’s each one, teach one. They have all found acclaim beyond their borders but hold dear to one another through the belief that with unity comes strength.
“We’re a group of designers helping each other in the spirit of ubuntu”
LEZANNE VIVIERS
“What we’re seeing, especially since covid, are designers who have similar sustainability values, coming together to bring about change. We’re sharing resources and helping each other in the spirit of ubuntu,” says Lezanne Viviers of Viviers Studio. Her SS24 collection, ‘Re-Trace, Re-Memory, Re-Set, Re-Culture’, debuted at Milan Fashion Week, explores our collective histories and shared origin stories as conduits for cultural transformation. Here, a line-up of otherworldly warriors wore sculpted and corseted two-pieces with detachable lenghts, cropped suits with power shoulders and parachute dresses covered in intergalactic prints in molten shades of silver, black and burnt umber. All made from reclaimed luxury fabrics and local raw materials, the mood was fiercely androgynous.
“Who are we and where do we come from? I looked at the myths and legends of different cultures and the common thread is ‘from the sky’. I believe in aliens, others believe in gods, but whatever you believe, we need to stop using these origin stories as a way to separate us, and use them to bring us together. It’s this idea of looking back to our provenance to inspire the future as global citizens.” How does this space-age statement fit in at The Nellie? “It is an institution that is staying relevant by doing something very contemporary. There isn’t another ethical fashion event in South Africa. Plus, I like the Wes Anderson feel of it. We’re all in a hotel for a week and having an eagle eye on each other!”
“It was important to showcase a print that celebrates my culture, my history and my identity”
PALESA MOKUBUNG
Mantsho by Palesa Mokubung, renowned for her elegant womenswear, showed a mix of AW24 – a line-up of sunset browns and golds on regal maxi dresses and cocoon coats – and SS24, which riffed on a print inspired by the Basotho blanket incorporating the brand’s flower logo. Pleated and folded looks in blues, reds and black accentuated curves and cinched waists. “What you’re look at here is my roots. It was important to showcase a print that celebrates my culture, my history and my identity,” Mokubung says of her Sotho heritage. “Then we have some Zulu patterning on a mini skirt, which is something a little bit cheeky for my Zulu girls.”
Meanwhile Chu Suwannapha, who re-launched his brand Chulaap as this summer’s Guest Designer at Pitti Immagine Uomo, presented his SS24 collection ‘Sea Explorer’. The ‘prince of prints’ took us on a fantastical journey into the ocean depths to celebrate South African artistry. Pirate tattoos, galleons wallpaper and underwater creatures swam across oversized linen suits, mohair knits, sateen coats and spandex pants. Swashbuckling hats by Crystal Birch and fish bags by Missibaba completed his riotous, ship wreck-ready looks.
“Cape Town has a very sensual spirit – we’re in-between an ocean and a mountain, which makes us grounded”
SINDISO KHUMALO
Perhaps most befitting of our opulent surroundings though, was Sindiso Khumalo’s SS24 collection, its pastel hues, pie crust collars and hand embroideries looking right at home next to tables where tiered plates brimmed with delectable lemon and blueberry patisserie. Tea dresses and graphic swimsuits felt super sweet, especially when paired with mini-me versions for girls. And two cheongsam dresses featured ceramic adornments by local artist Githan Coopoo, who styled the show. Khumalo – who also showed pieces from her SS23 collaboration with & Other Stories – took inspiration from the sensorial experience of visiting markets in Durban. “There is this cross pollination of South Indian and Zulu Ndebele cultures in these markets, so I’m looking at how these strong cultures co-exist colour-wise and print-wise. For me it was also important to have an ease to the collection, so the garments don’t take themselves too seriously,” say says.
What she doesn’t take lightly though is the impact her work and that of her socially conscious peers can have on the South African psyche, which is what CXC is here to amplify. “Cape Town has a very sensual spirit – we’re in-between an ocean and a mountain, which makes us grounded. Plus it’s a super diverse city so there’s many different types of creatives across art, design, food and fashion, ” she says. “Our country is having a moment of political and economic uncertainty, so what we do offers a healing space. We’re showing up to bring positivity and beauty into everyone’s lives.”
Visit Mount Nelson, a Belmond Hotel
Words Helen Jennings
FOR CXC:
Direction Ky Bxshxff
Fashion direction Tandekile Mkize
Casting direction Anthony Hinrichsen
Make-up Raine Tauber
and team, Keenan Justin
and Innes
Hair Kitsune Hair
Hats from The Real Crystal Birch
and Simon and Mary
Shoes That Shoe Lady
Backstage management Ty Graham
Backstage coordination Thapelo Mofokeng
Backstage assistance
Elle Maweyi
Tevin Malu
Gomolemo Moime,
Lesedi Seleke
Nhlanhla Masemola
Published on 25/11/2023