Would You Wear An Outfit Made Of Hair?

By Ntozanele Libimbi

Yesterday, the crowd at Soweto Fashion Week were amazed when the show opened with a collection of items made of actual braiding hair supplied by the Darling SA hair company.

Part of the avant-garde hair collection that graced the runway was a fringe dress made from long strands of the soft red hairpiece and a blue and grey miniskirt, whose bottom was made of a thick blue twist hairpiece.

There was only one male model featured in this collection, who wore traditional IsiZulu attire. The bottom piece that he was modeling had strips of faux locks attached to it.

The first female model that stood next to him donned an open back halter neck top paired with a fringe skirt that was also made out of faux locks.

The second female model had on a purple boob tube wore with a purple tutu. Another piece used strips of red hairpiece as a figure belt.  But the piece that stole the show was a lavender boob tube dress that had hairpiece of the same colour added to the bottom of the skirt to enhance the look.

Three braids were roped around the middle of the dress as a belt and a clutch bag was added as part of the ensemble.

Darling managed to bring life to hair by making the pieces look like every-day-wear. Unfortunately, it is tricky to pin or sew hair into clothing and so the material could not withstand the effects of natural elements such as wind or rain the way that more commonly used materials would.

This was an ingenious way to market the Darling brand but it is probably not a trend that will catch on.

Soweto Fashion Week is in its sixth year and the spring/summer collection was showcased last week at the Soweto Theatre.