Mzansi Flavaro

I am an avid reader and collector of various publications. One of the magazines I started reading recently is True Love Babe, which I initially had my reservations about, but now it has become one of best tools for inspiration in terms of fashion. The January 2008 issued featured a fashion spread inspired by South African culture. This has now become my favourite fashion spread, and Khaya Sibiya (the stylist), is definitely an inspiration especially since his was able to take the traditional and morph it into something unconventional yet remarkable. What you find is not the usual take on ethnicity, which usually takes the form of traditional Xhosa attire (a la Sun Goddess etc) or outfits made in shoeshoe print fabric. Of course these traditional looks are still beautiful, and Sibiya has managed to incorporate this in his spread, making use of items such as the traditional Shangaan cloth. I am absolutely LOVING it!!!!

The Spread...









Also check out Chris Saunders's blog, the photographer for the spread.