LIVE FROM THE RUNWAY.

Lindelwa Shandu is an upcoming female fashion designer currently studying Fashion Design at LISOF. Although she isn’t linked to a well-known brand and lacks brand endorsements, she is beginning to demand respect as she brands herself through her talented design creations.

On the 22nd of November, I was fortunate enough to attain seats at the LISOF Fashion Show, in which I encountered beautiful creations by the Lindelwa. Originating ffrom Kwa-Zulu Natal and relocating to Pretoria to pursue her dreams, Lindelwa has always been willing to take the risk due to her belief in her talent and her love for fashion. As child, she remembers watching television as she would emulate and draw the clothing that she would see. She would further attempt to create those garments for her dolls. This experience led her to finding her passion for design and follow a career path within the fashion industry. In an increasingly competitive and saturated fashion industry, Lindelwa seems to break the typical mould by taking inspirations from the past and reinventing them into something new. She’s inspired by fashion icons such as Victoria Beckham while she particularly enjoys minimalistic designs. Often, her style is casual chic, but she stands out from the crowd through semi-formal chic clothing. Her garments evoke that same sense of minimalism within her designs.

Her garment’s theme related to harvests. Harvesting refers to the process of collecting and gathering ready crops from fields. Lindelwa was inspired by art as she drew inspiration from Van Gogh’s infamous “Wheat Fields” art series. The series depicts women working in wheat fields. The woman is dressed in traditional work wear from the 1950s where dresses are layered with aprons with large pockets. Lindelwa knows how to deconstruct as she’s capable of finding inspiration and ensuring she evolves the original idea. She’s a hardworker who perseveres as her attitude and talent set her apart in a saturated industry. The garment is well-designed as Lindelwa manages to execute the overall concept. Van Gogh’s depicted women are wearing darker shades of clothing thus Lindelwa’s textures and colours choices are darker. She also draws inspiration from the dresses’ style as she sourced inspiration from a loose-fitting A-line shape dress and created a look with a sheer loose crop top and loose pants. The pants’ length is also long, similar to the dress. Sheer is a material, which is suitable for hot weather, as it is offers little warmth thus the use of sheer in the design ties into the idea of harvesting as crops are harvested during Spring and Summer (where the weather is hot). Furthermore, the pants are influenced by the depicted woman’s dress. Similarly, to the dress, the pants have large pockets which further tie the harvesting concept together. The use of wheat inside one of the large pockets allows the concept to be executed well as she references wheat during harvesting season.

Her whole garment design is empowering. In her own words, Lindelwa states that “my garment takes from the old and brings something new. My model looks like the modernized and empower country girl. She is commanding and that’s demonstrated through texture, makeup and silhouette choices.” While an R&B instrumental played, the background lights were completely dark, and the lights shone brightly upon a fierce model. The suspension created by the tension within the music alongside the contrasting lighting effects created a powerful aura around the model. The loud applause, music and lighting made the garment appear as alluring on the runway as she executed the concept. The incredible detailing on the back of the crop top and along the sides of the cream pants are central as they are incredibly notable due to the lighting. When I asked Dithekgo Mogadime, an avid fashion lover and student, of the feelings it evoked – he spoke of how “… It was majestic and powerful. The use of the wheat was well-thought of as it connected the greater harvesting theme! The garment was beautifully designed” and when asking Michelle Veryner, a fashion student, of her reaction to the garment and the effect of lighting, she explained how “The dimming of background lighting and apply bright lights on the stage forces the crowd to look attentively on stage. The garment demanded attention and was styled eloquently!”

Notably, as the model commanded the stage, the clothing created a powerful silhouette. Van Gogh’s solid shape of the women shows an A-line cut and her dress. While the garment is not a dress, it creates a similar effect as it illustrated an A-line cut due to the loose-fitting pants shape. The silhouette created is appealing as it is reminiscent of a traditional attire although the design is reimagined. In addition, as Summer and Spring are colourful seasons, the garment’s maroon colour accompanied by cream pants are suitable for the seasons. Maroon is a “vibrant and strong palette” (Oliva, 2018) while cream “hues on light and de-structured garments, for an ethereal look.”(Oliva, 2018). Both colours have contrasting effects but they complement each other as they encourage feminism and chic clothing. The use of ethereal and vibrant colours works cohesively with the general theme of harvest. Moreover, the use of sheer as a fabric creates ethereal effects which work well with the elegant use of light and the translucence of the fabric.

In regard to Lindelwa’s fabric choices, I had a conversation with Lerato Gaba (a Fashion Design teacher), she spoke of how “sheer and the woven pants complement each other as they create a silhouette which complements the model’s body.” She looks like “a modern country girl.” The sheer crop top is light, accentuates her waist and shows off her skin while the pants creates a sense of contrast due to the heavier material, darker and wider silhouettes. Additionally, the soft textures of the sheer crop top work well as they support the model’s body while shaping her and ensures she is comfortable. The pants’ woven textures create a more solid feeling which ensures protection from the sun whilst creating silhouettes with greater width due to the pants being loose-fitting. The additional placement of wheat in one of the large pockets executes the harvest theme and evokes feeling of nature alongside ethereal effects of colour, lighting and texture.

The garment, music and lighting were not the only facets which demanded attention as the styling created a subtle impression. The model had her hair braided as she had light and subtle makeup. She had light pink rosy cheeks, a neutral lip colour and her face was lightly contoured. Her style comes off as effortless as she looks like a modernized country girl. She wore light brown sandals which further ties the ethereal and natural feeling of the outfit together.

In conclusion, Lindelwa is an aspiring and upcoming fashion designer capable of reinventing ideas exceptionally. She takes every detail into account as she creates empowering designs. Lindelwa aspires to become a well-known designer, similar to Gert Johan Coetzee, Virgil Abloh and Riccardo Tisci. Through innovative designs, collaborations with brands and people, styling celebrities and creating her own clothing brand – she can gain exposure and become a heralded designer. Furthermore, she has also noticed that she needs to refrain from being introverted and engage with people socially and online as social media engagement results in a great following and exposure. She further envisions herself as the founder and fashion director of her own brand while working as a designer for illustrious fashion brands, such as Givenchy and Burberry. Lindelwa also discussed her final range and explained that she intends to design innovatively as she will attempt to fuse minimalism and avantgarde fashion.

Comments that arose from the show were “LISOF students are more than talented”, “by the end of third year they are sculpted to be ready to work in the fashion industry”, and “the designs are amazing – I love the soft fabrics and colour palettes used”.