LISA JAFFE’S SIDEWALK STORIES

Fashion authorities have described Lisa Jaffe, and her Guillotine brand, as ‘on the ball’, ‘edgy’ and ‘very cool’. And we have to concur …

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Although she claims to go for ‘fuzzy, happy pajama-like’ fabrics and her creations are said to offer comfort as well as style, her contribution to the Nike Gallery on 4th Fashion Show had a distinctly uncomfortable undercurrent. The homogeneous blond models, dressed for success strutting confidently down the ramp, made for uneasy irony in juxtaposition with Alon Skuy’s background photos of the sidelined members of society. Yet both these groups are wearing the same shoes … walking the same sidewalks, trying to survive in the same city streets.

See her flickr gallery here and Alon’s photos here or go to YouTube for more footage on the show.

 



Posted on May 21st, 2008 in FASHION, photography by Rosalie

ALON SKUY & A MOMENT IN TIME

Alon Skuy does not want to be called an ‘award-winning photographer.’ So I won’t. But I could have.

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After completing a course at The Market Photo Workshop in Newtown, Johannesburg, he started his career working as a freelance photographer for The Star, The Saturday Star and the Sunday Independent Newspapers. In December 2006 he was employed as a full time photographer for the Star, and later moved to The Times, where he’s been working for a year.

See the picture that earned him the Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Award for News Photographs here. He was praised for his ability to capture the essence and emotions of “a moment of experience that will dwell for a long time with the two people involved” as well as being “a photographer who does not flinch, even when there is major danger in the air.” The photographs he took for the Nike BE TRUE Exhibition - and which also served as a poignant backdrop for the fashion of Lisa Jaffe – can be viewed at the store on 4th Avenue, or online.




Posted on May 12th, 2008 in FASHION, photography by Rosalie

ABOUT TONIGHT

It’s the day of the launch and everything’s running unnervingly smoothly. Shopfitting’s done, artists confirmed and the drinks are on ice.

Gallery on 4th

Even the list of collaborators for this evening reads like a who’s who in SA’s new school of cool:

DJs Soosh, C-live, Georgeous The Beatbox and the gorgeous DJ Zinhle as well as ultra-hip Sweat X will making the music and setting the mood. Richard de Jager, Lisa Jaffe, Petro Steyn, Sibu, Katherine Mortner and Luke Radloff are our fabulous fashion people. And the art and photos of Stefan Naudé, Marcii Goose, Coenie Sutton, Joh Del, Love and Hate Studio, Kronk, Liam Lynch, Warren van Rensburg, Chris Saunders, Ross Garrett, Sabelo Mhlangeni and Xandre Kriel are guaranteed to stir up thoughts a and feelings even the most passive observer.

Yip. There’s not a glitch in sight and I don’t like it. A bit of power-shedding would be very comforting right about now; better the devil you know and all that. But as we’ve got a generator on standby even that won’t be too much of a mission.



Posted on April 22nd, 2008 in ART, DESIGN, FASHION, MUSIC by Rosalie