The Black Diamond Series : SA Fashion Forum

Hey ya'll

I have been listening to a lot of my favorite podcast, Black Girl In Om, and they literally start off each show by saying "hey ya'll" in the most beautiful southern drawl which always puts a smile on my face so I am channeling their energy for this post. Anywhoo I had the privilege of attending the inaugural South African Fashion Forum event last Saturday at Joziburg/One Eloff. SA Fashion Forum is the brain child of Ayanda Nhlapo and Luyanda Madonia, two super dynamic young women who are turning their passion into an empire.

The Founders of The South African Fashion Forum
Ayanda Nhlapo @_ayandanhlapo; and
Luyanda Madonia @silverwears

The event successfully brought together stylists, bloggers, designers and fashion students. I met some awesome people there who are doing big things in the industry. There were also some awesome pop up stores showcasing local talent with everything from gorgeous accessories, afro prints, vintage wear, right down to knitted bikinis. Check out some of the pictures of the pop up stores at the bottom of this post. Apologies I am getting old so I couldn't remember all the stallholders names, please feel free to message me your details if you spot your untagged merchandise.

SA Fashion Forum also invited some incredible speakers to share some pearls of wisdom when it comes to blogging, styling and just navigating your way through the often tricky South African Fashion industry. The actual event had a late start so unfortunately I couldn't stay to hear the last two speakers as I had to attend another engagement but I wanted to share what I learned from the speakers I managed to see.

Fashion and lifestyle blogger Ricci Kalish of Big Bad Wolf
Instagram @bigbadwolf_sa

The first speaker was Ricci-Lee Kalish, the popular fashion and lifestyle blogger of the Big Bad Wolf, a blog where she shares not only her style but also her very strong opinions about the industry, my kind of girl! A trained actress who turned to fashion, Ricci shared her experiences as an intern at publications such as Marie Claire Magazine as well as the Sunday Times Magazine Fashion Weekly. As a fellow blogger I loved that she shared practical tips around generating income, having an additional source of income outside of blogging, collaborating with brands and how to enhance your pictures. She kept it all the way real, even encouraging us to slide up in people's DM's to get a foot in the door.

Stylist Linda Sifumba of The Letter L
Instagram @the_letterl

The next speaker was Linda Sifumba, the winner of the reality tv competition, She's the One. As young as she is, Linda is an incredible stylist with an already illustrious career behind her including interning at print publications, being a retail merchandiser at Spanish fashion house Mango and styling music videos. I loved that she shared some stylist hacks that included sticking masking tape at the bottom of shoes at shoots so that you can return them to the store intact. Incredibly humble, she opened up about the tragic loss of her parents, struggles with finances and the crazy hustle that is interning for fashion publications and how she overcame it all. One of the things that fascinated me about her is her openness to wear different career hats, she is the quintessential multi-career millennial.

Stylist Khomotso Moloto
Instagram @missmoloto

The last speaker I got to see at the event was Khomotso Moloto, stylist extraordinaire with the hair, lashes and style to match. She is a prime example of a woman who is stomping all over the contrived myth about how motherhood and having a full-time career can't work. Unapologetically herself, she also shared a very personal account of her journey into the styling industry. The focus of her discussion was on what she wished she knew about the industry when she was starting out her career. I loved her honest account of her struggles and how she embraced her failures along the way reminding us all of the importance and the power of cherishing the lessons learned.

The one unpleasant thing that caught me by surprise was how some of the attendees took on such mean girl personas, trashing peoples outfits, throwing shade and being hopelessly obnoxious... don't get me started on the two grown men who went to fetch themselves chairs, allowing a woman to sit on the floor as the room got too full . Ya'll know who you are #menaretrash! First of all there is more than enough room for all of us in the South African fashion industry so the pettiness is totally unnecessary! Secondly, as creatives the world is constantly trying to tear us down and make us feel like we aren't good enough, we don't need to do that to each other, especially at an event where we ought to be celebrating one another.

Anyway, I was really inspired by the speakers and the people I met at the event, watch this space I feel like some cool collaborations are on the cards. In terms of what I wore to the event, due to the grey clouds that morning I was almost the girl who wore boots in the summer time *covers face in shame*! Common sense prevailed in terms of my footwear but failed me in terms of the sweater I wore, it got really warm during the afternoon and your girl was hot and bothered!