Runway Trend Report - Styles - Winter 2007 Women RTWAngie Hattingh
Locally having the sixties as a source of inspiration is a strange one. During the sixties South Africa saw Apartheid architect Hendrik Verwoerd as President, the Sharpeville massacre, the banning of the ANC and PAC and the jailing of Nelson Mandela. This was indeed a time of great pressure and conflict, the start of the darkest years of Apartheid. There is very little about South Africa in the sixties that we can romanticise. So why are the local designers drawing so strongly from this decade?

The sixties globally were a time when the world woke up to the fact that we all live on this earth. It seems like an obvious thing, but when we are so busy working and buying groceries and fetching the kids and watching TV we forget about the bigger picture. In the sixties, they saw the bigger picture. So big was this picture that even sunglasses grew bigger to accommodate the opening of our eyes. But another aspect of the large sunglasses is that they make you look so much smaller – childlike, in fact. And I think that it is the essence of the return of the sixties.

Idealism is the realm of the child, before reality makes us jaded. The sixties were filled to the brim with ideals and the belief that each individual had the potential to change the world, even if it was only one starfish at a time. This was a time of naïvety. And so looking longingly backwards are we asking for a bit of a denial of reality? Do we wish for a world where we believe that if we speak up we will be heard? Do we dream of a sense of community and global spirit? Do we hope for a future that reaches across the stars?


It is the future though, that has us looking back. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s fourth assessment report announced in February of this year was a stark wake up call for international policy makers. The scientists said it plainly; that we will be responsible for global devastation and mass species extinction in our lifetime if we do not do something about global warming now.

So while some of the designers were looking back for hope, the others were looking forward with hope. The New Constructionists look to reuse, renew, reinvent and recycle. Disposable fashions, like the Sino-shiploads that are flooding our shores, are rejected. Organic shapes and earth tones are revitalized and creativity is reemphasized.

Backwards or forwards, which ever way you look at it, we are opening our eyes to the bigger picture. And how we chose to respond will be perfectly reflected in our choice of dress.

The Sixties

The Look – Jackie Kennedy in her Bob Bugnand houndstooth suit – tapered skirt and cropped jacket. Or at her husbands inauguration in a simple dress coat and pill box hat. Feminine, slightly conservative. Or a youthful Mary Quant dress with peter pan collar or pinafore. Don’t forget the space race – metallic fabrics bridge the gap between the past and the future.

The Colours and Fabrication – Retro Primary colours with metallics. Houndstooth, tweed, melton, liquid lamé.

The New Construction


The Look – Organic shapes. Creative construction through twisting, tying and pleating or deconstruction to make way for new forms.


The colours and fabrication – Black, grey, ecru in knits, wool, felt, tshirting, bamboo and silk chiffon. Easy to drape, almost liquid fabrics with a bit of stretch.
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Publisher: ifashion
Web: www.ifashion.co.za
Published: march 2007
Market: womens
Region: south africa
Industry: apparel
Editor: Angie Hattingh

DISCLAIMER
Information in this report relies on sources including Trade Shows, Associations, News Releases, Government Reports and other public sources. Infomat can accept no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such information or for loss or damage caused by any use thereof.