Confections x Collections
Confections x Collections: the salon showcasing African fashion and custom confectionary
From Bella Hadid having a dress spray-painted directly onto her body to the Fendi show which took place atop the Great Wall of China, fashion shows have become synonymous with spectacle. With today’s more-is-more approach, one can wonder, “Where to from here?” Especially when the ‘here’ in question is a Chanel catwalk that looks like a space station, complete with a life-size rocket.
A growing number of designers are going back to basics, hosting intimate salon-style shows that are about the garments and customer-designer connection rather than the fanfare. Leading the cultural charge in South Africa are Mount Nelson and Twyg, who have partnered to create the fashion presentation Confections X Collections.
In the early 1900s, fashion designers’ new ranges would be presented in salon shows directly to clients, often in the same spaces they would return to for fittings after placing their orders. These shows were personal: photographers were not permitted and guests were allowed to interact with both the clothes and the designer.
“With the conventional fashion show nowadays being such a quick experience, people don’t really get up close,” says Jackie May, Twyg’s founder and editor. “We wanted to create something where people could really be in an experience of fashion.”
Now in its second year, CxC is an annual showcase of some of the most exciting names in the African fashion world. Designers are chosen not only for being at the top of their game, but for their commitment to slow fashion, ethical production and use of sustainable methods. Set against the famed fountain and lavish tea rooms of Mount Nelson, these designers are staking their claim in the luxury sector. This year’s offerings feature two South Africans: Chu Suwannapha of Chulaap and Sindiso Khumalo, who recently won the LVMH Prize.
The event takes the iconic Mount Nelson tea party and gives it a contemporary, African twist. Each designer has collaborated with the venue’s pastry chef Vicky Gurovich to create confectionery that complements their range – think cocktails and petit fours decorated with prints seen on the garments.
Twyg is a not-for-profit company that produces content and creates events that put African fashion and sustainability at their centre. Context is key to Twyg; the company places equal emphasis on the need to move away from a wasteful consumerist mindset and the need to support South Africa’s economy on the path to doing so. This is why Twyg chooses to highlight designers whose work considers the social and climate challenges of today. Their pieces are trans-seasonal, made with care to be treasured for years to come.
“This is one of the platforms we use to help promote and spread ideas around sustainable and circular fashion,” says May. “And it’s a beautiful, sumptuous way to experience fashion.”
Typically, the most one could hope to see of a designer at their show is a short wave and a bow at the end. At a salon, the designers present their work, adding rich backstories and important context. Once one learns details such as just how a designer sourced their knitwear’s wool, or that the plants printed on Sindiso Khumalo’s pieces are a nod to the cotton plants from her muse Harriet Tubman’s youth, one feels far more connected to and inspired by the work on display.
CxC recognises that one of the crucial steps to ending the fast-fashion cycle is forging connections between consumers and their clothes. Events such as this address the serious task of creating an ethical fashion ecosystem and make it modern, appealing and fun.
CONFECTIONS X COLLECTIONS will take place on the 8th to the 12th of November for five days of fashion and afternoon tea. SEE MORE HERE!
Words by Andie Reeves
Images supplied by Twyg by Andile Phewa and Armand Dicker