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Design Indaba Expo 2008:
Fashion Mix Masala

Local fashion has come to represent a conscientious choice for discerning South Africans. Displaying a bold pastiche, our country’s fashion signature speaks of pride, optimism and humanism.

In celebration of this democratic melting pot of creative self-expression, Design Indaba is launching a dedicated fashion arena in 2008, following the more than 20 000 visitors to last year’s Expo and fashion show. Sponsored by the SABC, the arena will host an all-day fashion and film festival, as well as a fashion boutique. Visitors to the Design Indaba Expo will pay R45 for unlimited access to the fashion and main floor.

Strengthening its position of presenting fashion in an original format, Design Indaba will again send the pedestal-like catwalk back to the dockyard. Begging the format of a typical fashion show with the catwalk-model-strut-pose formula, the Design Indaba fashion arena will be asking fashion designers to communicate their “story” or brand.

Last year we saw this format being communicated by gymnasts, tap dancers, models, ballerinas, mimes, contortionists, puppets and performance artists. Again this year, producer Jan Malan promises to push the creative boundaries right off the stage.

Intriguing collaborations have already been confirmed – Amanda Laird Cherry’s show will be directed and choreographed by Jay Pather and Karen Monk Klijnstra’s by Brett Bailey. In turn, Hip Hop will be presenting the Afro Diva Shebeen Queen Pageant, hosted by Irit Noble and featuring the drop-dead-gorgeous drag artist, Ivan from Mozambique.

Encapsulating the colourful and complex facets of the “slicksta” streets of Mzansi, John Sithole will show his Earthquake collection, presented by True Love Babe magazine. Craig Native too will be exploring the "space” where we South Africans all meet and create our own culture and Craig Jacob’s new Fundudzi collection reflects a tribe of warrior women lamenting the ravages that have befallen our continent and planet.

Looking to the past, Sarah Webber’s I Love Leroy show will be reviving the vintage romanticism of the 1940s, while Sandhya Lalloo’s “SINister” new winter collection has taken inspiration from surrealism and artists like Salvador Dali, Joan Miro and Edvard Munch.

Avant garde knitwear designer Richard de Jager’s PWHOA label announces “a new nightmare in craft!”; promising to introduce rugby gear into his signature jacquard knits. Suzaan Heyns similarly deconstructs sequential patterns, exploring the dynamic tension between modular shapes, geometry, block colour, technology and nature.

Getting philosophical, both Lunar and Mantsho by Palesa Mokubung will be considering the role of the fashion designer and the audience. In Lunar’s INSIDE/OUT, the audience will be placed backstage in the dressing room, while Mokubung, supported by the dti, will be featuring herself in an exploration of the emotions, facts, phenomena and happenings in the world that personifies her label.

The growing need of men to find their form of expression in fashion is also noted this year, with both Ruby and Stiaan Louw launching their first dedicated ranges for men. While Ruby will be offering their trademark cheeky underwear, Louw’s collection will feature a monochromatic, black-on-black palette with a ballsy, experimental vision.

On Tuesday February 26, 2008, Design Indaba Expo has also invited a veritable cast of local fashion editors to introduce each fashion show.

The day-long fashion shows will be interspersed by a festival of local short films and music videos, including work from the Blackheart Gang, Iaminawe, Clockwork Zoo, Fly on the Wall and Blackginger Studios. The Animation SA network will also be presenting a curated showreel of the best local animation.

View the full fashion and film programme here.

DESIGN INDABA 2008
Design Indaba will fortify as the South African Design Week in 2008, with the expo and conference programme running over a week from Saturday 23 February to Friday 29 February 2008.

DESIGN INDABA EXPO
For the fifth time, the Design Indaba Expo will offer a curated commercial platform for South African designers to showcase local goods and services to the global market. Based on the success of the 2007 event, which played host to more than 20 000 visitors, the 2008 event has been extended for an extra day, running from Saturday 23 to Tuesday 26 February, 2008. The Expo will also be even bigger than before with more floor space, a host of new exhibitors and a brand-new dedicated fashion arena with day-long shows and movie festivals.

DESIGN INDABA CONFERENCE
The Design Indaba Conference will run from Wednesday 27 February to Friday 29 February, 2008. Judged the best conference in the world by EIBTM in Barcelona, the conference has played host to luminaries from all over the world since 1995 and been sold out for the past three years.

SPECIALIST INDABAS
Due to demand from delegates and the public to attend the Specialist Indabas, these will run parallel to the Expo on Monday 25 and Tuesday 26 February 2008. These two-hour architecture, fashion and jewellery events feature local and international designers debating the contribution of these creative sectors to the South African economy. Bookings for Specialist Indabas open at Computicket on 14 January 2008.

YOUNG DESIGNERS SIMULCAST
As part of Design Indaba’s ongoing commitment to design education, Design Indaba 2008 will again offer a Young Designers Simulcast, catering to young designers and students under the age of 25. This is a live broadcast from the main plenary session to a second auditorium. Students and young designers will be able to access speakers in short, informal chat sessions during and at the end of the day.

DESIGN INDABA JOURNALISM WORKSHOP
For the first time, Design Indaba is presenting the Design Indaba Journalism Workshop in conjunction with the Design Indaba Expo taking place from February 23 to 26, 2008. New York design critic and assistant professor at Parsons, Susan Yelavich will lead the workshop with the assistance of an international team of acclaimed editors, journalists and writers. The cost is R1500 per person. To apply for participation, please contact Deborah Weber.

For more detailed information about the above activities taking place, and for related high-resolution images, please contact:

Deborah Weber
E-mail: deborah@interactiveafrica.com

Nadine Botha
E-mail: nadine@interactiveafrica.com

Tel: (021) 465 9966
Website: www.designindabaexpo.com