Hot Trends Emerged At The Spring & Summer Showcase At Soweto Week

By Ntozanele Libimbi

Soweto Fashion Week’s spring/summer collection ended in a standing ovation as the 23 local designers made their mark after showcasing their amazing every-day-wear collection at the Soweto Theatre on Thursday.

Nokwakha designs catered for plus size models.  The designer’s range was not for every-day-wear but it appealed to the sporty plus size model. She used a navy blue with a maroon and white detail. This collection represented fitness and self-confidence as the designer broke social boundaries.

Nokwakha challenges the stigma against plus-size models fiercely through a collection that had short skirts with frills on them for the netball players. The skirt was paired with a cute crop top that had a zip in the front allowing the model to show off a bit of cleavage.

A high waist open skirt matched perfectly with a pair of black shoes. The most eye-catching piece of the collection was a high-low skirt paired with a navy blue crop top.

This designer most definitely knows how to make a sporty plus size model look like a runway high fashion model in a million dollar garment.

More than just everyday suit

Nothing looks better on a man than a suit, right?  McGale’s definition of a suit is high fashion. He used a lot of black and white vertical stripes in his designs. The most noticeable theme in his collection was the three-quarter pants where the shoes made the statement.

The use of light brown and light coloured shirts complimented the modern man. This designer proved that spring and summer are not all about colour but about looking good on a daily basis.

Stripes were all the rage as McGale closed the show with a poncho that had black and white vertical stripes, alongside a flirty skirt of horizontal stripes worn with white socks and a black shoe, yes! On a male model, this bold fashion statement is the definition of haute couture.

Hot trends for the season

Freshwear celebrated 10 years with their everyday collection, which included tailor-made suits for kids and African print pants. The temperature went all the way up when the male topless models exhibited their swimming trunks for Freshwear’s swimsuit range.

What stood out was the gender-neutral handbag that had the South African flag on it. Freshwear left the crowd in awe with its reversible male suits that are sure to be a lasting trend this season.

Mercia Ramagaga’s pink and maroon garments exude class, elegance, and innocence with a touch of sexiness. The pieces included a halter neck pink jumpsuit with flower embroidery at the bottom. A gown with a maroon bottom and pink boob tube with flower embroidery proved to be the dress that stole the show.

African print seems to be the statement material for this season as Precious Lulu’s collection featured this style prominently. A black lace skirt matched perfectly with a green African print sleeveless top that shows off some underboob, which was both classy and sexy.

The main piece of Lulu’s collection was a green African print ball gown. The model looked regal as she graced the ramp wearing the dress with a matching head wrap.

Soweto Fashion Week would not be complete without denim. Konka Republic shut down the show with their casual denim wear. Their male models wore denim Capri pants with denim shirts and the women wore denim dresses and two-piece outfits.

A pop of colour was added to the dark wash denim showing how exciting denim will be this summer.