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When Kerby Met Camp

The first Monday of May has come and gone and like always it did not disappoint. Although there is an endless amount to say about the 2019 Met Gala, to summarise the best I can I’ll narrow it down to one word. Memorable. Memorable in the sense that the costumes were pieces you could lay your eyes on once and never forget. For this, we have Anna Wintour to thank for choosing what I thought was a phenomenal theme that allowed for such a vast array of creative expression, Camp. Let’s start at the beginning, the day of the event. If you’re anything like me you spent most of yesterday glued to Instagram, not-so-patiently waiting for Vogue’s hourly videos to drop. I spent this time mostly trying to figure out what the theme was and subsequently spending the rest of the day pretending to understand it. But, if you’re nothing like me, I trust your Monday was a lot more productive. Let me try to explain. Camp is a type of style which is centred around aesthetics that are seemingly 'tacky' because of its theatrical and over the top form. Camp originated in queer communities around the 1900s and has since made its way back into contemporary fashion culture. If you need a bit more clarity refer to Edward Enninful’s “What does camp mean to you?” below. Now that we know what we’re talking about we can get to my favourite pieces worn by Pyer Moss founder Kerby Jean-Raymond.  As one of my favourite designers, a healthy amount of bias can be expected.  Kerby’s take on camp was anything but “ostentatious”.  I believe that’s where the success of his designs lies. He effortlessly weaves his political views into almost everything he touches and uses his work to comment on societal injustices. Each stripe on his blazer are lyrics by his favourite rappers. Jean-Raymond’s impeccable taste is not just limited to his style but is also visible through his personal favourite rappers. This includes the likes of Nipsey Hussle, Tupac, Jay Z, Nas, Drake, Meek Mill, J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar. The buttons on his blazer were designed and made in partnership with Johnny Nelson Jewellery and were moulded in the shape of the heads of all these rappers. The buttons on his cuff were moulds of the fists which represent the Black Power movement. Additionally, he chose the bars specifically relating to black economic empowerment which read lyrics like “ghetto children, do your thing” and the back of his blazer read “Fix Your Credit Pool Money Buy Back The Block”. As a creative, designers who are able to integrate such personal parts of who they are into what they do are my most influential inspirations. Jean-Raymond’s work that has inspired me the most is his short film, *Seven Mothers.* At only seven years old Kerby Jean-Raymond lost his mother, Vania Moss-Pierre, the muse behind the name of his entire brand. In this eight-minute long film, he then pays tribute to the seven mothers who continued to raise him after the tragic loss. Furthermore, all the characters in the film are clothed in Pyer Moss pieces from his new SS19 collection. The question of whether you like his designs or not is trivial. It becomes irrelevant in the bigger picture when the message and story he is telling are more important than the aesthetic.

Sincerely, Sine.

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Getting Ready with Rea

It's true for most students that finding something to wear every day can be a taxing task. Campus looks can be difficult to find for multiple reasons. Furthermore, my many years of wearing a school uniform at boarding school did not leave me adequately prepared. UCT students have the additional challenge of finding an outfit suitable for all four seasons in one day. Something warm for the morning, waterproof for a bit later, something light and breezy for the afternoon and maybe a scarf and a windbreaker for the walk home. However, for some these issues seem trivial as there are students who kill their campus looks every single day. One of these students is none other than the unofficial campus celebrity, Rea Botlholo. For the inside scoop on how to overcome all these challenges I not only got the chance to ask Rea for some guidance but also an exclusive campus photo shoot. Rea never fails to pull out runway-worthy outfits every day. And if you’ve ever had the privilege of seeing these meticulously well put together outfits you’re left asking yourself: HOW?

“I usually start with a scathing hot shower, then brush my teeth and wash my face and then lotion my skin and then choose what I’m wearing for the day.”

However, I’m sure most of us know that choosing an outfit is never as easy as it seems. Personally, if I don’t know what I’m wearing the night before, it could take me between ten minutes and three and a half hours to decide what to wear. If you’re ever stuck ask yourself: What would Rea do?

“If this ever happens. The first thing I’d do is find a garment or item that I haven’t worn yet or worn in a long time and work from there. Or if I’m in a rush for something I throw on a pair of jeans or a tracksuit and keep it moving!!”

Who would you say is your ultimate fashion icon?

“UGGGHH, I honestly can’t pick one. But if I had to choose only one, it’d be Rihanna. I just think everything she does is with this cool, meticulous nonchalance as if she didn’t even try to look amazing. I love how daring she is when choosing looks. In my opinion, Rihanna can literally make ANYTHING look amazing.“

Rihanna not only has an incredible fashion sense but she also teaches us an invaluable lesson about individuality through her line SAVAGE X FENTY. Rihanna describes her lingerie line as being about respect, being unapologetically yourself and embracing individuality. As one of my personal icons, I look up to Rea for this exact reason. Rea is always brave, expressive and most importantly completely unapologetic when it comes to choosing outfits.

“Everything to me is unisex. I have worn “womxn’s” lingerie to campus, I have about 5 pairs of sock boots. The gendering of clothing is honestly pointless to me because people should feel free to wear whatever they want however they want.”

The interview was concluded with some golden advice that has personally helped me on multiple occasions:

“Honestly, as cliché as this sounds, if you feel good in it you most probably look good in it. And don’t be afraid to dig deep into your cupboard, you might surprise yourself and find a hidden treasure?”

To put it simply: break boundaries, be yourself, dig deep and always keep it moving.

Sincerely, Sine.

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A Golden Cavity

One of my favourite qualities about the mother city is the undeniable and infectious PRIDE of the queer community. I firmly stand by that Cape Town is a place, where young people especially, can truly be who they are. For a lot us, this means trying to figure out who we are a finding our place in world that is a lot bigger than we are. Alis Koze, a young Cape Town designer, takes us on her journey about how she came to create the alternative streetwear brand, Gold Cavity.

Alis:

I started Gold Cavity from a place of wanting to create a brand and just clothing in general that I could actually feel comfortable in and look fucking good in as well, cause I think the two go together. Gold Cavity is also inspired by spaces and people that I’ve been around. It draws on a lot of factors of identity for me and people in my life. So for me, being queer, I wanted to create clothing that is completely fluid and doesn’t hold all of the standards we see everywhere within the fashion industry in clothing brands in Cape Town even. I wanted to change that, I wanted to create clothing that’s just fucking weird but somehow worked. I wanted to create clothing that you can just put together if you don’t have anything to wear, and because its a set you’re ready to go. Expressing myself through my clothing and style has been such an important part of discovering my identity. Queer designers such as Thierry Mugler, Alexander Wang and Micheal Kors are just a few designers who have used their work to express their sexuality and to inspire their designs. The same is true for Alis.

Alis:

I’m so fucking excited about this question! But yes, my queer identity allows me to just unleash everything. I love fucking with gender norms and just stepping out. So part of my new Gold Cavity autumn collection range there are various options of the sets. Two of them are a kind of velvet lime green and then there’s a royal deep blue. It’s something that you can just put on and walk down the street in the middle of the day. People stare at me, and I’m just living my best life. I think you can even wear that out to the club you know? You can just do whatever you want. My clothing is so directly linked to my queer identity because its something which is such a true and weird expression that people are going to look twice. I believe that if you can feel comfortable and claim your space within this quite abstract clothing then that’s how we as queer people are able to be within our identity. That is how we can walk through the streets and walk through our lives presenting who we are to the world. Stylistically, Gold Cavity is very inspired by the pride of the queer community and I wanted to represent that. More and more these days we are finally seeing an inclusion of different kinds of sexualities and identities within the fashion industry. This has lead to positive changes like the opening up of unisex clothing and the steering away from the highly gendered binary of separate women and men’s sections. Because of the gender fluidity of Gold Cavity designs I was curious to know what Alis’ opinion was on the gendering of clothing.

Alis:

Honestly, I personally get a bit annoyed when people ask me all the time if the clothes are unisex. I’m just like, babes, this terminology is out of date. Where we are right now I think to even have the term ‘unisex’ is outdated because the gendering of clothes at all for me is off the table. I think that all types of clothes should just be gone away with any kind of label regarding gender. Although Gold Cavity is making big moves now within the fashion world we know the beginning of all great things is never easy. As a student in my early twenties, I completely understand and relate with the feeling of having big and ambitious dreams and completely no idea of where to even begin materializing it.  I'm grateful that Alis was able to open up about the hardest parts of establishing herself as a young designer.

Alis:

I think the hardest part of being a designer is having no experience with regards to having a whole brand. The only experience I had was from working around other people who were already established, and also had a lot of capital. I had a start-up. I think that’s what’s difficult. Is to be like, okay, how do I navigate this and create things that are so much better than everything I can see around me, but with none of the resources that everyone around me has. That has been a challenge. I actually left Gold Cavity for a year and I didn’t make anything. I didn’t fully give up I just got to the point where I was like woah, this is too difficult, I don’t know how to handle this on my own and manage this as a single person. When I came back with the Autumn collection, the new range, it was like my come back. Gold Cavity came in hot! I think being aware and steeping away gave space for me to realize how important it is to me and sometimes that space is really necessary for you to realize that and to push you forward.* I find that defining your passion can be difficult. We all know what we like and what we don’t like but it’s hard to pinpoint when exactly that ‘thing’ becomes your passion. Just like Alis, for me, it was giving up. Only when I had given up on my passion and walked away from it did I learn that the only thing harder than the challenges I was facing was the thought of not trying at all. Luckily, Alis left all you young aspiring designers with some golden tips she’s learnt from the business.

Alis:

Honestly know yourself, number one. And when you don’t know yourself recognize that you’re growing. Don’t feel embarrassed to be honest as well. I always just approach other designers or people who own brands even though I’ve only worked retail. I’ll just approach people next door and be like, honestly, I have my own brand. And I’ll be confident because you have to be but then I’ll also be honest and say you know, I don’t know how to source material that is going to be affordable or I don’t know how to do whatever is you can’t do. But by putting yourself in a position of you being honest you’re still showing that you have a lot of belief in yourself and your capabilities but that you’re also able to be vulnerable in the fact that you’re able to say listen I’m figuring this out, I don’t know how to do this but I’m asking questions because I genuinely care and I’m not pretending like I know all my shit because no one does. Check out the gallery below for some highlights of our shoot!

Sincerely, Sine.

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The Making of Magugu

At only 26 years old Thebe Magugu is already making big moves locally and internationally in the industry. Magugu along with 15 other young designers took to London for the unparalleled International Fashion Showcase (IFS). As the winner, he was chosen by a panel of judges which consisted of both cultural as well as commercial fashion experts. It was this panel of pristine judges that called Magugu “a leader of his generation” and described his collection as “ a space which gives a sense of past, present and a bright future for Thebe and his country.” Magugu’s journey with fashion started when he was very young and he continued to pursue his passion at the Lisof Fashion School in Johannesburg where he studied and excelled in Fashion & Apparel Design. Since then his career has been a skyrocketing success with only more to come. His works have been featured in The Times as well as in Flux Trends. As young creatives, Magugu is setting a brilliant example as his works predominantly surround topics involving modern fashion and youth culture within South Africa. The IFS program deliberately runs simultaneously with London Fashion Week to allow for the work of the young talents to be exhibited. In partnership with Somerset House, the British Fashion Council and the London College of Fashion this program includes an eight-month business development workshop as well as a creative residency with the one and only Somerset House Studios. Thebe Magugu, the fashion line, just adds to the endless list of reasons I'm completely obsessed with him. This fashion line in the words of Magugu himself “is a women’s line made solely for the confident, smart, risk-taking and impassioned woman ready to match her personality with her clothing and turn heads wherever she goes.” The Thebe Magugu fashion line ties together aspects of culture, sustainability and African feminism to produce exceptional pieces of art which challenge everyday notions of femininity and masculinity. Yes, you heard right. A successful young black male dominates the women’s department within the fashion industry whilst not only promoting the richness of African culture but also simultaneously challenging gender binaries. I've never been so excited to see what a designer does next. If you’re like us and you simply can’t get enough of Magugu’s content, take some time out to absorb yourself in his zine, The Faculty Press. [https://www.facultypress.org/faculty-press#1](https://www.facultypress.org/faculty-press#1)

Sincerely, Sine.