A couple draped themselves on scooters, others stood in threes, sporting Mdingi\u2019s irresistibly attractive layered variations of trouser suits, fine-gauge and hand-knits, dresses, pleated skirts, and sportswear\u2014all of it singing together in a perfectly-pitched visual chorus of lavender, turquoise, ochre, yellow, brown, and grass green.<\/p>\n
Mdingi was circulating, speaking about his collection, its provenances, and the hard-working collective culture that has seen South Africa\u2019s phenomenal rise as an on-point epicenter of young fashion creativity. \u201cI\u2019ve realized that we move through community, and we move through sharing,\u201d he smiled. \u201cI think that\u2019s just something that\u2019s within our blood.\u201d<\/p>\n
What Mdingi achieves in showing is how the arts, crafts, and techniques of African artisans can play a central role in elevating today\u2019s upper-level contemporary designer fashion. He named this collection Burkina, in honor of the CABES Textile Community in Burkina Faso he\u2019s been working with during the pandemic and was running a documentary about the community of weavers and dyers who produce a large part of the collection.<\/p>\n
As an example, he reached for a group of striped lavender and silvery thread pieces\u2014a slouchy man\u2019s suit and a ruched sleeveless dress. \u201cSo, this is a blend of pure organic cotton and metal thread. I worked with them to get the exact Pantone colors\u2014and that intense orange workwear over there,\u201d he explained. \u201cThere\u2019s so much sincerity that is literally woven within the fabric. It really is a collaboration, and I rely on their ingenuity. It\u2019s important that I show that there\u2019s a sense of authority in what they achieve. This is how it should be: really understanding how they can add their expertise, to see how they can tighten the design and really make it a lot stronger. I want to overcome those misunderstandings that people sometimes have about craft.\u201d<\/p>\n
Close-up, his clothes are refined, light, soft, and subtly styled\u2014an eminently wearable wardrobe of knitted polo shirts, baby-fine mohair hand knits, double-layered shorts, and tailoring. His signatures\u2014 stripes; his outstanding mixed-media fringed, woven, and knitted stoles; his graphic-contrast sweater\u2014are established sellers on Net-a-Porter and at Selfridges. The relatability of his work is a key plank of his mission. He\u2019s in the business to sell, and for good reason: sales success feeds back to pay the artisans, mostly women . \u201cThere\u2019s a strong social impact in that. As I\u2019ve gotten older, I\u2019m at a stage where I want to recognize that, and ask how can I use what I do to be purposeful and of service? And I think the best way to do that is through working with these communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mdingi talks as if he\u2019s an old hand\u2014it might seem that way to a designer who\u2019s been steadily building his brand between Cape Town and European and American fashion markets since 2015. But in reality, that\u2019s a very few years in which to have created such a mature yet completely fresh and youthful brand\u2014and with such attention to ethics woven into it. He\u2019s a finalist in next week\u2019s Andam Prize. Everything he showed demonstrated exactly what a deserving winner he\u2019d be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A vibrantly relaxed social gathering in a light-filled garage with young people hanging out wearing clothes popping with brilliant color at the center of attention: at Lukhanyo Mdingi\u2019s presentation in Paris, the atmosphere was buzzing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":10455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,36],"tags":[7,37,38],"class_list":{"0":"post-10458","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fashion","8":"category-lifestyle","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-fashion","11":"tag-lifestyle"},"yoast_head":"\n