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EDITÉUR PLUS
SOUTH AFRICAN FASHION TO PARTICIPATE IN PRESTIGIOUS COMMONWEALTH FASHION EXCHANGE
Press Release
Top designer , Clive Rundle and Lucilla Booyzen , director of the SA Fashion Week and member of the Commonwealth Fashion Council , will join their peers for the opening of the inaugural Commonwealth Fashion Exchange design exhibition at a reception at Buckingham Palace in the presence of T . R . H . The Duchess of Cambridge and The Countess of Wessex on 19 February 2018 . The Commonwealth Fashion Exchange , conceived by sustainable fashion advocate Livia Firth , founder of Eco-Age with support from both The Commonwealth and British Fashion Councils , is an ambitious long-term undertaking to draw established and emerging fashion talent from across the Commonwealth ’ s 52 countries together to create new networks , trade links and showcase the power and potential of artisan fashion skills . South Africa will be represented by Rundle working in collaboration with Lesotho-based textile design duo , Phutheho Ranooe , and Maleeto Monyau , of House of Thethana , that specialises in futuristic printmaking . Other Commonwealth participants include Karen Walker representing New Zealand , Bibi Russell representing Bangladesh and Burberry and Stella McCartney representing the UK .
Drawing inspiration for Lesotho ’ s rich horsemanship culture , crafter Monyau worked under Rundle ’ s direction to develop a print suited to a high fashion garment and for printing on luxurious fabrics such as silk and organza . “ The equestrian theme became a fundamental part of the pattern construction referencing anything to do with riding a horse so that the whole garment is about horses and saddles . However , it was important to us that we allowed the Lesotho image to transcend its ’ geography to become a universally appealing idea . The pattern pieces are a complex arrangement of many seasons , many collections , that together now make the idea of saddles ,” explains Rundle . “ As a member of the Commonwealth Fashion Council , I was approached to make recommendations on South African designers that would have both the design capacity and sensitivity to work on the complexity of collaborating with cross border crafters . Clive Rundle was one of the first designers to embrace the Fashion Fusion Crafter / Designer Project that SAFW established and ran successfully in all nine provinces with the Department of Arts and Culture from 2007 to 2011 . He is also the one designer that continued to collaborate with the crafter community once the project was terminated due to a lack of funding . He is supremely qualified to make a success of an undertaking of this nature and to fly the SA flag high in such august company ,” according to Booyzen . Following the official opening during London Fashion Week , the collection will move to a public exhibition at Australia House on February 21st , as well as other public locations in London in the run up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in April 2018 .
EDITÉUR PLUS / THE SEVENTEENTH ISSUE