***Update***

A deeper look showed this video is quite old, but the content is still valid. Enjoy!

There are a couple of things that make me feel good when I watch this video; firstly I can rest easy knowing that even the big web video companies like Dazed Digital can have sound nightmares every now and again and Secondly it’s great to see some young South African creatives getting international attention. The video was even featured on Hypebeast and a couple of other major sites.

About the Video [Dazed]

“Dazed had a South Africa special for their June 2010 issue and one of their reporters spent an ‘afternoon in downtown Johannesburg with four young designers from Soweto, a DIY fashion “crew” called the Smarteez. Kepi, Sibu. Floyd and Thabo took me to some of the fabric shops and clothes stores where they source the raw materials they adapt and combine into their vibrant, outlandish creations.

Walking through the city, they explained how they feel their generation differs from the preceding one. Too young to really remember the struggle for apartheid, they’re less politicised and claim that their “struggle” is now one against blandness and conformity – to them, it’s all about partying, self-expression and challenging stereotypes.”

Source: Dazed

Screens

Hello kids,

So checkit, I managed to catch up with the creative director of Undacova underwear on the verge of their travels to represent South Africa in Angola where they’re taking part in the biggest fashion & beauty show to be held on the African continent to date. South African legend Jan Malan is producing it and he’s taking with him 20 of the hottest designers in the country. They’re going to be in Luanda for 4 days and I’m in the process of trying to convince them to keep a little diary for us!

Meantime here’s a little juice on how the boys got to be where they are…

• What is Undacova ?

It’s a fashion underwear brand, underwear and sleepwear only at this point, maybe something more in the future, we have the potential to expand range into different segments, but that’s not on the cards for now.

• Who makes up Undacova ?

It’s me, Chris Kilchling, and my partner Percy Ndaba. It’s quite funny actually because Percy is my neighbour, we met on the street outside the house. He’s been in fashion retail for a long time and I’ve done some graphics for his projects so we decided to team up. We That was October 2008 and we were in stores December of the same year so it all happened pretty fast. Officially we launched at Design Indaba in February 2009.

• Why underwear? That’s not like your regular t-shirt labels you see popping up everyday.

There was a need for good quality underwear that was also fun. More than that we needed  a brand to compete with the likes of Calvin Klein. We also just wanted to do something visual that expressed fashion & graphics. We just thought it was pretty fun.There is a big need for graphic underwear, its a small playground, it’s not like ballgowns or something, from a graphic point of view you can push it further.

• How would you define the personality of the brand?

It’s young, tongue-in-cheek, not taking itself too seriously, bold and colourful, it’s African hedonism.

• Um…what the what is African hedonism?

It’s about responsible hedonism, it’s about having fun and doing so in a responsible way. Have fun in life without fucking shit up. The African part is the spirit you get in this place. Fun loving African people inspire us.

• Ok, so you’re actually German right? Why South Africa then?

I came on holiday here with my family in 1996 and I really loved it, although looking back now it was a totally different perspective I had back then but anyway I knew I wanted to come back. I was really into surfing so that also played a big part, I moved here in 2004.

• I guess you’ve already answered this but what’s your inspiration?

African people of all variations, local spirit, fun, I guess my life inspires me. It’s the contrast in every discipline, it’s the colour clash, the cultural clash.

• Brands you admire most both locally & internationally?

Locally, Stoned Cherrie because they continue to reinvent again and again. 2bop because I love that they just have fun doing their thing, I really dig that and the visuals as well obviosuly. Darkie is another one, Themba is a brilliant creative person, his creativity has a way of always surprising me. Lastly Blue Collar White Collar shirts are awesome, I also think they’re really good guys, creative entrepreneurs with good hearts.

Internationally I’d say Jeremy Scott, in fact I like Adidas in general, but him specifically. I love Insight clothing, the colours, the cuts; traditionally surfers are anti fashion Insight has managed to turn the image fashion forward. Denis Simachev is someone I’m loving at the moment, he’s this Russian guy, a streetwear designer, very graphic, and he refrences Russian folklore and tradition. It’s almost kind of cheesy but I think it’s great. it’s important to me not to take the fashion business too seriously..

• Your dream collaboration?

Dream would be to work with the Keith Haring Foundation on an AIDS related cause so that’s something I’ll be focussing on in the next while.

• So where to from here?

Right now we’re just working on building a sustainable business. In the future we would like to do concept stores and crazy small runs of limited editions but for now we need to make it in this country and hopefully expand to some others.

• Where can we buy Undacova?

Africhic online store, Design Indaba online store, Woolworths (V&A, Canal Walk, Sandton, Eastgate & Gateway).  For now it’s only mens stuff in the Woolworths but you can get the ladies gear at the online stores.

• What can we expect for summer?

It’s basically a summer story called clifton. There’s a lot of inspiration from lifeguards and obviously beach and nautical references. This will be available just before Christmas. It’s just underwear at this point but in winter we’ll do sleepwear again.

• Where can we find you online?

Website: www.undacova.co.za

Facebook: Undacova Underwear

Twitter: undacova_u_wear

Happy Tuesday y’all

So a couple months back part of my Facebook feed was about my homie Lebo who had been making some kind of fancy video that was doing the round. I knew he was a filmaker but I never asked any further questions. Anyway I watched the videos and discovered that they featured Damon Dash. WHAT? DAMON DASH? YES.

I contacted with Lebo who is currently living in Beijing and I asked him to talk me through what he’s been up to and how the hell he ended up making a documentary with one of the legends of hiphop. I’ve also asked him a couple of personal questions for those of you that don’t know who he is yet. Read closely because one day he’ll be very famous.

So who are you and what do you do?

I’m Lebo, and I kinda live a double life. I am this scholarly/bookish dude writing my masters thesis by day, and working as a videographer by night making documentaries about sub-cultures in Beijing…it gets a little weird at times…

What is this project with Damon Dash about?

Damon Dash came to China to “check it out”, and when he was in Beijing-he got hold of people I know and work with…

How did you get involved?

Well, when he came over, his people got in touch with people that I work with. “Sexy Beijing” is a popular online TV station that I have done work with and DJ WORDY (3x China DMC Champion) is a good friend of mine and we’ve done videos together (check it here). The other dude in the video is MC WEBBER – China’s freestyle prodigy-I’m working on this video called “section 6″ and its about this monthly underground hip-hop party featuring some of Beijing’s dopest mc’s, b-boys etc, and Webber hosts it, I have these killer freestyles of him in it-I wish everyone in the world spoke Chinese so they could understand what he was saying-the kid is hot!!! Anyway so naturally, when they were looking for someone to shoot Damon Dash coming to Beijing, they called me…

China is pretty flippn far away so how did you end up there and thus in this project?

I don’t know, I wanted to learn Chinese and I wanted to pursue filmmaking as a career and I didn’t want to be another one of those South Africans that go to America or London, I just wanted to do something different, something no one has ever done before. And when I got there, I was lucky enough to meet good people. And of course my interests lead my to those people, so it was a pretty organic process.

Who is the crazy stylish lady playing hostess?

Oh her, that’s Anna Sophie , aka Sufei … she is amazing. She is the star of Sexy Beijing… she doesn’t really shine in this episode but if you get a chance you should check out some of their shows…nothing mind blowing, but she is on fire …

Any plans for future projects like this?

Yeah, hopefully Damon Dash signs Wordy to roc-a-fella, and Wordy and I go to New York and I film the second part of what could be a potentially awesome document on the progression of Chinese hip-hop.

What else are you involved in over China side?

A bunch of stuff, but in short, making music videos and videos about music, documentating the Beijing underground hip-hop scene, making sandwiches for everyone involved in the Beijing hip-hop scene and more importantly; making films that deal with the realities and conditions of the African Diaspora living in Beijing.

Is there anywhere online where we can check what else you get up to?

Yeah, I kinda have a vimeo page but its nothing official yet…I’m in the process of putting more stuff up…it should be cooking in the next month or so…and for those of you who do actually end up on my vimeo page, i commend you to watch “Sino”. Its a short film, the first part in a trilogy I am working on about the African Diaspora in Beijing. All of the things I have done, I really love this one the most. (Check out his vimeo page here).

I hope this inspired y’all to go and do something valuable today.

Happy Tuesday.

Anths.

I made my first acquaintance with Rozanne Whyte in the notorious days of Joburg’s somewhat cult Secret Parties at Horror Cafe. Rozanne and her sister were the notorious and atypical fashionista twins, bound to be at every underground party/exhibition/fashion happening.

I have managed to stay in touch with the troublesome sisterhood, and have since become an avid follower of Rozanne’s ultra quirky fashion label ‘Rozanne is…’. Rozanne is… is one of South Africa’s pioneering underground streetwear labels, having been exclusively responsible for the wardrobe for our prize booty rap duo, Sweat X, as well as being stocked by stores such as The Street in Greenside, Burgundy Fly in Maponya Mall, Soweto and directly from Rozanne at her studio.

The Rozanne is… aesthetic is distinctively South African, and distinctively her own. All garments are handmade by this daring and ever so cute entrepreneur of fashion. If you are in the know, she might even be willing to create you a custom garment according to your wants and desires.

I was sneaky enough to squeeze myself into the crew for the photoshoot of her new range. It took place at the enticing location of Main Street in central Johannesburg, an art precinct on the verge of explosion, and home to the much adored Arts on Main. Everything about this shoot throbbed energy, it included many familiar faces from scenes far and wide and a clothing range that oozes post-rainbownation urban edge. I caught up with the bubbly seamstress for some chit chat. Tjeckit!

First up, tell us a bit about your new range ‘Ani-mal’, what is the concept/inspiration behind it?
Firstly, my latest campaign is my a/w 2010 collection and it’s entitled, ‘Rozanne is… Ani-mal!’
The Afrikaans word ‘mal’ cos it’s a little crazy and weird and quite risky for a South African campaign. I love that it’s nothing you’ve ever seen here or in any international magazine. I wanted to show my humourous and fun take on urban fashion and wild animals in the city. Its a continuation from the previous shoot that Chris Saunders and I did for One Small Seed. But this time, I wanted my models, who have big personalities to act like wild animals. Each scene has a story, you can probably figure it out if you look closer. The guys are big and scary, like the predators and the girls are being hunted. Just like in the wild. The second theme is territory, two alpha males fight each other to win the affection of the sexy female, and just like monkeys, everyone can go back to their inner ape and just have some crazy silly fun! And just for some more fun, howling at the moon, growling to be cheeky, even escaping the confines of the city just to be free.

I also think that there is huge interest  in South Africa from the rest of the world at the moment because of the world cup. Most people have forgotten about the creativity and fashion side of this country. Their main reason to come here is for the soccer and the ‘Safari’. So I was inspired by this and gave it my own twist on The young urban generation in SA. Now you can view the big five in the city all dressed up!

For our readers who aren’t familiar, tell us a bit about your label, ‘Rozanne is…’ ?
“Rozanne is…” is my street couture label that I have been running since 2005. It was launched at the SAFW Elle new talent competition… where I was a finalist since 2003:)

Its quirky, a little crazy, some silliness thrown in for good measure. I pay alot of attention to detail and often my work is constructed with secret panels, cleverly designed to be multifunctional, like the reversible men’s hoodie… I love playing with panel cuts and putting alot of thought into my designs and how a garment should function.

I named it Rozanne is… so that it can change… Its gives the wearer the freedom to interpret my range and how they feel when they wear my clothes, and it also allows me to change and customise my label. I constantly change and this allows me to be free to think outside the box:)

My work has been featured in various local magazines and also in the Collenzioni sport and street in Italy. I have also taken part in 2 art exhibitions.

For any eligible bachelors out there who might (and should) be interested, give us a clue about WHO Rozanne actually is?
Rozanne Whyte is the crazy fashion designer behind ‘Rozanne is…’. I am also a stylist, design and produce the wardrobe for fantasy TV ads and feature films. And I sometimes model:)

Who would you most like to see wearing Rozanne is… gear?
Anyone that is KOOL and likes to be different…
The people on the street make me happy, not really anyone specific in particular, its more a lifestyle and a mind set.

How did you get into fashion design? Was having your own label the idea from the very beginning?
I studied fashion for 3 years at GFD design emporium back in the day… It was in competition to LISOF. and the only college in South Africa that taught the proper french couture way:)
My dream was to be able to create all the ideas in my head. And starting my own label came so naturally, my friend and I were working and supplying our then label, ‘Warped’ to Pulsate while we were in 2nd year of college. ‘Warped’ was a finalist at SAFW Elle New Talent and Smirnoff international fashion awards… We won many awards. But after completing our studies, we went our separate ways as our goals were not the same. So that’s when Rozanne is… was born.

What or who inspires you to do what you do?
Lots of things inspire me… The people around me. Arty fartys…. The creatives. The KOOL kids. Fashion, illustration, art, graffiti, music, movies, animation, other like minded crazy peeps. And traveling to KOOL places.
The endless ideas in my head… that I often conjure up in my dreams. Being able to create all my dreams and make them a reality for others to enjoy keeps me doing what I love:)

Who is the best dressed person you know?
There are a few… Def the other half of the twinset:) She is my walking mannequin… I get to play dress up and she will usually wear whatever I put her in… Which is so much fun!
The best dressed guy I know, is any hot guy in a pair of a Rozanne is… twisted seam skinny jeans:) I believe if you have your own original sense of style anyone can look good… Mixing it up and not being afraid to be a little different gets my thumbs up! I really love the way Guy Ndlovu and Spoek Mathambo dresses…. geeky kool:)

What other local/international labels do you follow?
I love all the greats. The Japanese designers, Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake, Rei Kawabuko. Viktor and Rolf, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen( So sad he is gone:( ) , Balenciaga and John Galliano. The couture greats are amazing. I get most of my inspiration from them as they show that anything is possible. My label is completely different. But I really appreciate the love that goes into making a couture garment:)

What are you wearing right now? (Nudge nudge) Haha but seriously what is your favourite garment, accessory, piece of footwear at the moment?
Hahahhahaha! I actually love being naked…. WINC wink!!! But seriously…. I am loving: my hand knitted chunky scarf as my fav accessory right now… it keeps me so warm, its beautiful and its handmade. My fav garment, is my twisted spiral paneled skinny jeans… I practically live in them:) And I love wearing high top sneakers… In bright colours and kool fabrics.

Thanks Roz face! Have a peek at the shoot below people!

A little bit about the shoot:
I think my design and construction has matured. This collection I have played around alot with couture techniques and my all time favourite twisted seams especially in my jeans. I have also added leather jackets and unisex chunky hand knitwear to the mix.

- I love using interesting and colourful prints in my ranges and this time I loved the geometric african style neon prints I found.
- My favourite pieces are my jeans. From my ladies spiral twisted panelled jeans, to my metallic leopard print skinny jeans with front zip details, to my all time favourite hi-performance ‘poo’ jeans, now with twisted seams. I kept the washes raw and dark as its eco-friendly, not to use harsh chemicals and litres of water to wash them
- I always like to add some animal print to my collections and I found this really cool leopard print corduroy for my ‘rabies’ pocket hi-waisted skirt and leopard print mesh to line my parachute metallic hoodie.
- Lastly I love to play with the direction of stripes and checks and create new dimensions by cutting and constructing panels to give a geometric illusion. Seen in my Checked suit with neon pinstripe and my checked drawstring coat tail dress.

All clothes: ‘Rozanne is…’ from the A/w 2010 collection

Photographer: Chris Saunders (Who was back in Jozi briefly from Italy to shoot for Dazed and Confused)

Stylists: The Twinset (Rozanne and Sasha Whyte, Sisters that look like twins and often collaborate. We look the same, think the same, have the same design aesthetic. Double the fun, double the trouble!)

Make up and hair: Julia Rubenstein (A cute, shy and very talented make-up artist and hairstylist who has worked extensively in both the feature film and editorial fields.)

Models: Athi-Afikile Myataza (Marketing student and model for PACE :: agile as a buck and flies through like an eagle.)
Adam Lowery (Owner of The Street, a concept store in Greenside, JHB, that stocks everything from street wear like Rozanne is…, Nooka watches, sneakers, art and music.)
Kat Maponyane (Blogger, DJ (half of Dont Party favourite, musical chairs), mobile marketer and snowboarder)
Robyn Davie (International model, vintage hunter – sourcing, adapting and working at launching a vintage couture fashion range called ‘Reaching Robyn’.)

Art Director: Sasha Whyte (The very talented senior art director from JWT.)

Photographer’s assistant: Ed (You know Ed, everybody knows Ed…)

Special thanks to everyone on the shoot, The Street for the fab Nooka Watches, Russel at Mainstreetlife for location setup and Sasha for the fab home cooked treats all day!

Other than the depression of Monday I hope everyone had a rad weekend, the sun is shining today too so it can’t be all that bad. Today I’ll share with you a little interview I had with the creators of menswear range Simon Deporres. I continue to be impressed by the style and quality these guys are bringing to us. I complain a lot about boys with bad style so here it my solution to the problem. Just wear Simon Deporres.
Other than that I’m nothing but impressed with the level of professionalism and understanding that these guys have regarding the fashion industry. They started in Matric with printing tshirts, 20 at a time and sold it to their homies. All the money they made that year paid for them to go on Matric rave. Pretty fuckn smart if you ask me. Anyway they are only in 2nd year of studying but they’re doing big things so here’s a bit about them before they blow up so big I can’t track them down anymore and they pretend not to know me.

So who is actually Simon Deporres?

It’s Simon Pocock & Mpilo Deporres Ngcukana, that’s where we got the name from, nothing complicated or cryptic.

How would you define the personality of the brand?

I guess we’re trying to bridge the gap between classic streetwear and original couture fashion. Does that make sense?

Dream collaboration?

ummm Topman. But we’d really like to do a range of tshirts with an illustrator and shoes with someone too, a sneaker colab.

Local labels you like and respect?

David West (for making menswear wearable & accessible), Mingo Lamberti, 2Bop.

What’s in the future for you guys?

Next year we want to be able to do this full time when studying is done. We’d like to get out stuff into A-store, that’s our immediate goal, and hopefully The Street in Joburg, we’d love to get a following up there. We’d like to stay and grow in South Africa and then move. We’re not trying to just pick up and leave like a lot of people do.

What’s in the current range?

Jackets, baseball jackets and tshirt, we also did a few SD flat peak caps. You can check everything out in the catalogue page on our site. In summer we did a load of shorts and cardigans too.

Where can we get your stuff?

In the design tent at the Neighbourhood Market at the Biscuit Mill.

RAD. So I think you can see this is the kind of brand that’s going to do big things.

That aside the clothes are INCREDIBLE. I’m currently trying to get the boys to agree to make me a girls item so hold thumbs.

Check em here

Anths.

2BOP was founded in 2004 out of pure love for the classic arcade, “even before” 16-bit style game!

Since 2Bop’s entrance into the world of the Cape Tonian underbelly, they have hit the ground running. During the racist regime of the Apartheid government in South Africa the disadvantaged youth had little to inspire them in-terms of design or technology, classic, 20 cent (2Bop) corner shop arcade games, primarily from North America and Japan, were as close as the impoverished and repressed could get to what the creative talents overseas where up to. This is the medium that inspired co-creators, Anthony Smith and Bradley Abrahams, and so began a long love and fascination for the world of pre-super processor gaming.

2Bop has seemed to light up a switch in the youth, whether it be the concept or the design, the clothing range has been graciously accepted and revered by the underground youth culture.

Don’t Party caught up with the creators, innovators and arcade obsessed pioneers of 2Bop and asked them a few questions!

1 – Your stuff is kind of like a fresh, modern take on the arcade game era…

a. How often do you guys produce new work?

We generally do 2 ranges a year but we’ll probably do more  frequent smaller ranges from now on – ( look out for some interesting off key collaborations too )

b. How do you conceive concepts for new lines, i.e. take us through the process of your clothing’s creation?

We skiet games whole day

2. Do you have any aspirations to go national? Or is 2Bop a pet project, taken step by step, with no rush for expansion?

We supply some stores in Joburg and will be supplying Delboros in PE soon. They know how to close a sale! They will follow you out the shop and get you to buy Nike’s even though you’ve been rocking strictly Adidas your whole life! We’ve also started exporting to the States and Canada and will be opening our own online store in April… if FNB does in fact get paypal working properly in SA.

3. Your brand is obviously based on a passion for the 16 bit gaming era, how do your events/ clothing link to this?

We’re influenced from even before the 16 bit era, commodore 64, 8-bit Nintendo and an array of arcade games that ranged in processing power. As for our Stiek 8-bit events we just have a good time playing old classics or revised versions of classics like we did in our recent Street Fighter IV tournament: Shout out to Salie the laanie, the official king of Street Fighter in Cape Town

4. Where do you want to see 2Bop in 2 years time?

The fucking MOON!

5. If you could pick anyone, alive or dead, to rock a 2Bop tee, who would that be?

Ant : Daigo Umehara  Jeff Bridges in the original Tron,  Biggie. fat 80′s fan waving Karl Lagerfeld

Brad: Tupac / Biggie / Andre3000 (he is a maverick as far as fashion goes IMO) / James Jebbia (Supreme) / The Dude

So if 2Bop speaks to you check out more here

and for a list of suppliers, click here