Holy Macaroni Batman…I’m salivating right now.
For Dazed June’s South Africa special, I 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. As Sibu, the guy in the red cape, put it: “I was born into the free world.
Founder of Iamthenublack; Motion Graphic Designer and T-Shirt enthusiast, with an appreciation of good typography, well dressed men and nectarines.
