Cape Town based designer Craig Port is at the forefront of fashion and has become one of the definitive arbitrators of South African lifestyle.

The "Port Magic" glows in his diverse collections, each one reflecting his personal style, energy, enthusiasm and passion seen in his labels PORT for men and MISS PORT for women. In addition there is the distinctive PORT jewelry collection; Port’s bespoke furniture collection and his fragrances, Paragon for Him and Her. The recently launched Port swimwear for men has been a resounding success and is being worn by celebrities and sun worshipers worldwide. Craig will be releasing his shoe collection with Watson shoes as well as the much desired underwear line into stores for Summer 2010.

Being a mentor and inspiration in the ever growing South African design business, he spearheaded the Richard Bloom Foundation in 2006. The Foundation offers bursaries and internships to exceptional designers from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The "Dax Martin" swimwear brand was born in 2003. In that same year, Dax imported a seamless elasticized hemming machine from the UK – one of the first of it’s kind in South Africa. Dax has a small production team that handles everything from cutting, printing, swing tag printing and sewing to press operation, packaging and dispatch.

Dax has spent the past six months adapting the use of presses from the shoe Industry for use in swimwear production with some extraordinary new products. Dax has also designed and helped produce a seamless bra-molding machine for use in Lingerie and Swimwear. Dax has not only established himself as a designer, but as an innovator of seamless garment construction. Dax Martin Swimwear is stocked in independent boutiques in Cape Town, Gauteng, KZN and Europe.

He draws inspiration from all the fabrics found in his mother’s studio, from all her East African Island and Coastal voyages.

'The weather' functions as the framework within which Doreen Southwood displays four different emotional states associated with different times in our seasons.

Like the weather, everything changes. This collection will attempt to display the effect of weather patterns on what we chose to wear. Colour and texture makes up a large part of these designs. A soft palette combined with movement and transparency develops into darker reflective surfaces with touches of saturated colours.

The mood leans towards the nostalgic and feminine. Shape and surface plays a large role in this years overall look. The interest in the seasons, we all share, is its visible cycle. She attempts to portray this universal cycle in clothing items that are stylistically timeless

Malcolm KLûK and Christiaan Gabriel Du Toit are the creative force behind KlûK CGDT and have worked together since 2003. Their brand is not so much about clothes, but rather life and a holistic experiential, boundary-blurring approach to Style that encompasses all the senses. Their collaboration represents the pinnacle of their separate creative processes and each designer brings specialised expertise and unique visions to the partnership.

Careful consideration is given to each garment; from the fabric selection, to the cut and the finishes of each piece. It is this careful consideration and attention to detail that distinguishes their clothes as luxury garments and has garnered them the reputation as South Africa’s leading design house.

They have shown at fashion weeks in New York, India, Singapore, Russia and Sweden. For Malcolm and Christiaan their label represents the culmination of two designers’ passion and the vision of bringing South Africans an international experience of South African fashion

Lalesso was launched at the beginning of 2007 by co creators Alice Heusser (25) and Olivia Kennaway(24). Lalesso ethically produce all their garments in their workshop in Kenya. Starting out with just two seamstresses, they now employee 22 people - some contactors and some permanent. They also support local communities including Zimbabwean refugees (whom they use to make crochet for their garments) and Masaai beaders. Highlights to their career to date include having a concession space at the famous Oxford Circus Topshop in London, being featured at two fashion shows at Pret a Porter in Paris and making it through to the final round for the New Generation Show at London Fashion Week. Celebrities spotted wearing Lalesso garments include Kate Moss and Sienna Miller. In two short years, Lalesso has also launched their kiddies and home wear range, as well as their colourful pumps and have received orders from LA, Miami, Dublin and Belgium, Tokyo, New York, Paris, Barcelona and London.

Love water love, South Africa’s hottest swimwear label is uniquely designed to be mixed and matched in styles, fabrics and sizes to ensure that every woman can look her beach-confident best in a bikini that flatters her most.

Love water love swimwear is made locally using excellent quality fabric and trims imported from Italy and Spain. The look is fresh, flirty and utterly fabulous – think Bond bikini girls, fun in the sun, a little bit naughty and a lot nice! And with their business doubling since last year, love water love bikinis can be spotted on beaches from Clifton to Capri.

Love water love's Summer ‘09/10 collection, showcasing at ARISE Cape Town Fashion Week, is a celebration of colour and bold prints. Über-luxe Zen Playground is a sophisticated range available in Lemon yellow and Baby blue, while El Capitano is timeless nautical with a playful twist. Urban Jungle is sexy jungle chic with an infusion of love water love glamour – think Leopard Print, Bilberry, an explosion of Peacock… Each range also features love water love's new men’s range.

Malick showed his first ready-to-wear collection to independent boutiques in 2002 and has been supplying boutiques country-wide ever since. Malick has become a regular feature at Cape Town Fashion Week since his debut in 2005 and has also shown at Joburg Fashion Week, Mozambique Fashion Week, the Chicago Fashion Focus and was also part of the South African pavilion at a trade exhibition in Las Vegas.

Malick has a design studio in Cape Town and a factory where his ranges are manufactured. He opened his flagship boutique in Claremont in Cape Town in October 2008.

Malick has become one of the leading suppliers of ready-to-wear evening ranges that are supplied to boutiques all over South Africa. Malick’s style is classic yet original and always fits perfectly, no matter what the size.

The Yuki label was conceived after Malick and was launched in YDE during summer 2008. Knowing how difficult it is for young designers to find employment, Malick wanted to create an opportunity in his company for a young designer to launch a new label.

After a selection process, the opportunity was given to Danielle Abrahams who completed a B-tech degree in fashion design at CPUT in 2006. During her final year at CPUT she was invited to show her graduate collection at the SACTWU fashion festival 2006. This collection was also chosen to be exhibited under the emerging creative banner at the Design Indaba 2006.

Danielle draws inspiration from pop and street culture and tries to keep Yuki cute, cool and cutting-edge. The current range is influenced by the Tokyo street culture.

The new season at Misfit is filled with soft chiffon silks hand dyed in the soft tones of charcoals, nudes and dirty pinks. Wild leopard prints are finished with dye techniques and batik. This range offers pin-up styles mixed with rock n roll and classical lines offering an edgy, chic and glamorous look for the woman that is confident with her individuality.

Misfit signature label is created by South African designer Saskia Koerner and German designer Lena Jansen. Together they design apparel that is classical with a punk edge, hard and soft. Sheer and raw. They have boutiques in Cape Town, Dusseldorf, and Bali.

Misfit lives in a world of silks and stars. Pirates and ninjas sailing the seas, we create exquisite apparel made with conscious fabrics and fair trade.

After a successful 5-year career at a successful large Canadian retailer where she worked as the senior designer creating ranges for the unisex youth (18-23 years) market, Michelle returned to SA to start the Michelle Ludek ready-to-wear collection

Michelle Ludek’s inspiration comes from an inherent love of nature, especially the South African landscape with its textures, organic shapes and unexpected details. She is also inspired by the effortless flair of Europeans with their irreverent cool take on fashion. As an artist, she is always true to her impulsive and playful instincts and who she is as a woman.

Her collection has been created with function and aesthetic in mind, for modern women. The collection includes ageless buys made from quality fabrics with a focus on fit and tailoring to create an elegant look and laid-back luxe in more muted tones, allowing women to add femininity and shape with a touch of texture to their

Suzaan Heyns began her fashion career after winning a bursary to The London International School of Fashion, LISOF, from Elle magazine in 2001. Highlights of the Suzaan Heyns label include being chosen to showcase at Design Indaba 2008, being part of the What If The World Collective in 2007, and showcasing at Cape Town Fashion Week 2008, where London based international supermodel, Jourdan Dunn modelled her collection. More recently she designed a collection for Anglo Gold Auditions at Africa Fashion Week 2009, for which she won an award for the most creative range.

Suzaan Heyns is a Joburg based label, a brand with a forward thinking mindset, and avante garde designs. There is always strong emphasis placed on masculine versus feminine, highly constructed, sculptured, tailored garments are created using quality fabrics. The brand and label should appeal to the artistic thinking woman and men who like a little exclusivity. The label can be found at Me Me Me, Cape Town: 021 424 0001

Sway Textiles is a Cape Town fashion label making comfortable day and evening wear for women. Our garment ranges feature unique, offbeat Sway prints, and have wide appeal across age and cultural groups.

Sway is dedicated to print and pattern. We find inspiration all around us: everyday objects, contemporary South African and international design trends, local flora, birds and animals, traditional textiles from all over the world.

In our Woodstock studio, everything is drawn or painted by hand. We make minimal use of computers when producing our designs as we believe our one of its kind signature sets us apart from computer generated design.

Our textiles are screen-printed by hand, in a long-established textile printing studio in Wynberg.

Sway textile designs are created by Petra Giliomee and Antoinette du Plessis, but like our printing, we outsource pattern making and grading, cutting and sewing, bookkeeping and transport to small businesses. We source base fabrics from mills and wholesalers around Cape Town.

Sway garments are available in The Space in Cavendish Square, Cape Town and Rosebank, Johannesburg. Selected boutiques in Cape Town and along the Garden Route stock Sway, and we have a small but expanding export market.

Over the past three years Tarien Malherbe has honed her craft and love of the South African fashion vernacular. Each collection unfolds like the telling of a fireside story, as if told by Herman Charles Bosman or Gcina Mhlophe-Becker, through which the audience is taken on a journey of discovery.

This Summer Tarien Malherbe presents a collection of hope, joy, and light-hearted enthusiasm. In a time of frugal sentiment Tarien Malherbe offers a heart-on-your-sleeve collection that will lift the mood for Summer 2010. A threadbare mentality is applied to long-lasting cottons and linens that are washed and aged - so as not to look new, but look right. With an eye for cut a quirky take on proportion is explored within a collection of lazy day dressing based on clearly defined men and ladies’ pieces. The good news is that summer is going to be relaxed!

Established in 2001, 'tart' is a Cape Town based ladies wear brand run by Cari Stephenson. The heritage of ‘tart’ is the tee-shirt, and the brand has evolved to include all aspects of leisure wear. The spirit of the brand is youthful and energetic.

'tart' aims to be commercially accessible, so quality, style and affordability are key factors when producing garments. Although the brand is always current, it is not trend driven and each piece has the potential to become a wardrobe staple. Simple silhouettes, cleanly cut in soft jersey knits are the cornerstone of each range.

Attention is paid to lifestyle and collections include garments for all occasions. Dresses form the basis of the 'tart' look, with fit, ease and wear- ability at the heart of each design. 'tart' is proudly South African, producing all product locally, both in-house and through CMT. Find ‘tart’ exclusively at “The Space” stores country wide.

Tracyb is an upmarket swimwear brand that has been making exclusive, trendy swimwear for over 18 years. Using the highest quality imported lycra from Spain and Italy, the swimsuits are designed and manufactured locally in South Africa. The swimsuits are designed for woman who are proud of their bodies and aren't afraid of being noticed.

 

 

Graphic designer Chris Kilchling and Percy Ndaba, fashion entrepreneur and designer in his own right teamed up in 2008 to form Undacova.

This vibrant, contemporary brand progresses by keeping a close eye on local and global trends as well as innovations in styling, fabrics and design. The range of sensual and playful underwear is fabricated by using only premium quality materials and innovative production techniques to guarantee an optimum look, feel and fit. Undacova offers a broad selection of styles for both men and women, all of which are produced locally.

Undacova is inspired by the African 'Joie de vivre' and infectious positivity that keeps people smiling. Under the theme 'Underwear & African Hedonism', the brand has managed to carve out an unmistakable signature look. This look is characterized by a bold approach to colour, striking colour combinations and funky print designs.