Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Design Indaba: Christopher Strong Review

This weekend the Design Indaba Expo 2011 delivered some surprisingly good, fresh fashion. My favourite of which was the small collection by Christopher Strong. First let me give props to the Cape Town Fashion Council, under the current leadership of Sylvia Gruber, who curated an excellent selection of designers. I can say that six out of eight collections were better than I expected.
Also, I tip my hat to Annelise Le Breton who produced the shows. They ran 100% to time. They were easy to see. They were mercifully short and sweet and just right to show off the fashion. They were even fun. Less of the smoke effects and the man-handler door keeps, and they would have been perfect.
And so to the review. C-Strong are a fashionista favourite. And so they get a lot of the fashion-riff-raff raving about them for no other reason than they are cool. David West and Stiaan Louw suffer the same fate. And yet, in these instances they are also very, very good. And we must commit ourselves to doing whatever we can to help them succeed.
In this collection of achingly perfect basics for next season, I will be ordering five pieces for myself. Yes, five. And paying my own good money for them. The perfect wider-leg trouser - so flattering, classic and yet modern. The sheer dress with the button down collar. Two trends in one there. And the great thing about the C-Strong designs is that no matter how many of us wear the same garment, we won't look the same because we can infuse them with our own style and personality. So many of us default to the big retailers for our basics. I vote instead for Christopher Strong. If you have ever complained that you can't get or afford Celine or Chloe or Stella in South Africa, do yourselves a favour and swing by the Christopher Strong guys. It is a great local alternative and you will be helping to build a deserving business. Good. Now go.

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