For some people, being a fashionista is running to your nearest Zara and buying the same clothes you’ve seen on a celebrity or the mannequin. It’s knowing the difference between Brentwood and Burberry and having the eagle eye to spot a fake Bathu or Balenciaga sneaker.
For some, what truly defines a fashionista is their participation in the fashion cycle, one where trends are discovered, clothes are designed and people buy them to influence others into doing the same.
The church where this holy communion of sacred style takes place is in the seasonal Fashion Week events from around the globe. Whether you love the edgy thought-provoking works of New York Fashion Week, the street-inspired and gritty designs of London or even the men's wear mecca at Pitti Uomo, there is a fashion week for everyone.
Locally, that precious gem is SA Fashion Week, a biannual affair that showcases some of SA’s most amazing talents whose roster includes the country's viral king, Rich Mnisi and even soft-spoken storyteller Thebe Magugu.
Fashion weeks have been an important market place to influence consumer trends and buying habits, and to create design discourse through the bridge that is the media. This important relationship allows for this moneymaking machine to be the success it is today.
Local trends like streetwear, the rich auntie aesthetic and the dashiki takeover have all graced this stage. Industry giants in all spheres of media and business congregate in the front row, or frow, as its popularly known. The frow seats at fashion events are iconic for their appeal; only top dogs get to chill there even though they have notoriously been criticised for being an impractical way to view shows by most international attendees. However, this is also a big public relations flex because being photographed in this row or invited to it is a display of power. It certifies that someone is a VIP among nobodies. It’s like attending umgidi and sitting in the family’s kraal.
But slowly these heavy hitters have disappeared from the frow. The affluence that sitting there had is no longer convenient to the more influential celebrities. The biggest commodity for them has been creating an allure of inaccessibility and affluence which go hand in hand in crafting themselves as desirable brands. But you just can’t feign importance if every Tom, Dick and Levi’s is asking for your selfie.
From politics to our lifestyles, celebrities have a chokehold on how we consume media, so it’s no surprise that you might find yourself with a bill that looks like your payslip simply because you thought it would be fun to go to that A-list club your fave always posts Instagram stories from.
The allure of being assumed to be rich and famous is very intoxicating and feeds the business of influencing. So, when fewer celebrities make appearances at events as crucial as SA Fashion Week, it leaves the event in a social coma.
Considering the most important element of SA Fashion Week is to ensure those in attendance buy the clothes seen on the runway or at the equally important trade show, SA Fashion Week needs a more innovative way to entertain crowds easily swayed by celebrities or it-crowds on social media.
There needs to be a new way to communicate the importance of SA Fashion Week and attending it, including the culture behind it.
Something I noticed was making an immense difference was the inclusion of TikTok stars. Swarming the event and dominating in their numbers these young kids come from a subset of celebrity that isn’t as snooty as the old guard and has an approachable reverence.
Unlike Instagram’s frigid meticulousness, Twitter’s volatility and Facebook’s lack of glamour, TikTok encompasses every flaw each of its predecessors’ social networks has and kills it with the ability to curate the culture of consumption. Whether you are for sustainable fashion that supports designers and cherishes the garments you have or you are a fast fashion loving freak who doesn’t mind buying trendy garments in bulk, TikTok offers what influencers and old celebs cannot – culture.
Having transitioned seamlessly last year into a digital attraction, SA Fashion Week has found ways to innovate and exist outside physical sight. With the importance and heritage they carry, it will be exciting to see 22 more years of the powerhouse offer a very digital future of SA fashion.
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