By Errol Hendrickse
I wrote an article for Mix Future Interiors magazine a little while back that looked at the collaboration between Africa and Europe, and I want to touch on this subject again. The reason I wrote it was to illustrate the amazing relationship the two continents have had and how this has moulded the Africa we know today. I keep asking myself though why we spend so much time resisting each other rather than embracing all our cultures. Why can’t we be proudly South African rather than define ourselves by our cultural heritage and/or colour of our skin? For what we are today is a generation born under African skies, regardless of heritage — which to me defines who I am: I am African.
I do not believe in BEE (black economic empowerment) or CEE (coloured economic empowerment) IEE (Indian economic empowerment) or even WEE (white economic empowerment). I believe in SAEE (South African economic empowerment) — it is this empowerment that I stand in every day. But the one industry that has the biggest rift in it is the one industry that should stand firm because it is the look, face and new identity of South Africa, and that is the fashion world.
When I returned from Europe and attended my first fashion week, I really enjoyed myself. Then the more I got involved in the local fashion industry I couldn’t help but laugh at the enormous egos driving this industry forward. We have six fashion weeks per season! Durban, Cape Town and Joburg have two each, one run by Africa Fashion International (AFI) and the other by Sanlam Fashion Week. What further intrigued me was that designers in this country don’t get invited to show their collections like the rest of the world — they buy the right to present their work. So I ask myself the question: why is our fashion industry run by two event companies and not by a national fashion council like the rest of the world?
Well it’s simple — South Africa has a history of NEVER showing a national united front. We would rather split an industry down the middle and throw stones at each other than join forces to drive a dying industry forward! When I speak to colleagues abroad and tell them about “the two camps” they think I am joking. But no, year after year the AFI and Sanlam Fashion Week shows trail round after the designers! Never in my life! London, Milan, New York, Sydney, Berlin, Amsterdam — one country one fashion week and designers go to it by invitation of the respective fashion councils. Why do we have a set of designers and fashion weeks that split the industry? Cape Town designers won’t present in Joburg and vice versa. One lot of designers won’t present at AFI and the other lot not at Sanlam etc etc. What are we? Kindergarten children or professionals in an industry that is pivotal to transforming the international status and look of South Africa?
Having the right to buy your place on the runway has huge pitfalls because the “two camps” are not really looking at the standard of work being presented. As an example I take the recent ARISE (AFI) fashion week. A great event, no question about that, and some stunning work. But 52 designers over nine days — come on, let’s work out the profit! Some of those designers should never have presented as their standard was weak. Even some of our award-winning designers couldn’t be bothered to hem some of the outfits before showing them. To me this policy creates a bunch of designers who are lazy and do not deserve the status they achieve through PR.
Designers around the world hail Africa as their inspiration but not our own designers. We must fuse our cultures and create a new united front and identity that separates us from the rest of the world, and then we could be unstoppable. Now I understand that a lot of African history has been all about domination of one kind or another, but as the new generation of Africans we need to learn from this and not allow it to happen again.
Seven hundred years of colonising a continent has generated a melting pot of pure design across all racial groups that has inspired the world at large. Yet we, who live in Africa, choose to segregate again in our fashion industry and political policies. Designers at large should take the lessons from the past and put politics aside to create an identity that represents us all. Now how this looks we don’t know yet — but let’s play the game! I personally am really up for that. In all the years I have been travelling, when you meet an American they proudly go: “Howdy I’m so and so and I’m American”. When you meet a Brit they say: “Ello Mate, my name is so and so and I’m British” but when you meet a South African they go: “Howzit I’m so and so I’m South African — sorry.” It’s time we stopped apologising for who we are. I am certainly not sorry for being African, in fact I am very proud of who I am.
We cannot change our past and we absolutely cannot forget it. However, as a new democracy it is our responsibility to create the new traditions and culture of this country. In this collaboration of AFI, Sanlam Fashion Week and a national fashion council we could truly rise above the hurdles we currently face — build a country not based on the past but based on a future we create together as Africans. Yes my forefathers may have come from the continent of Europe but does this make me less African? No it doesn’t as my creative identity and inspiration comes from my place of origin — AFRICA.
Much love
Errol xx
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