Couture Dreams

We recently shot our gorgeous brocade dress with Georgia a new face at Max Models in Cape Town. The photographer was Vivian De Waal. We loved the clean and unpretentious backdrop to the shoot.

The dress has multi panels that are interspersed with nude tulle insets. Around these is crystal beading. The hem has a column of trapunto that took forever to do!

SPRING PREVIEW

Amazing pieces from our Spring/Summer preview - work in progress!
Shot on Marianne @ Max Models Cape Town

DANIELLA MIDENGE SHOOTS FOR MARIE CLAIRE FEATURING GAVIN RAJAH

Our gorgeous pants shot in the May issue of Marie Claire by photographer Daniella Midenge. We love this shot! Model Jenna Pietersen

BEST DESIGNER AT FAN FASHION HOSTED BY NEDBANK

Jaboolie Water Polo Week 1 2014 | Powered by Gavin Rajah

Fun project we had creating swimwear for this winning waterpolo team!

GAVIN RAJAH COUTURE 2014

PHOTOGRAPHED BY: KOPE|FIGGINS

STYLED BY: BEE DIAMONDHEAD

www.gavinrajah.com

TOM FORD LAUNCHES WOMEN'S READY TO WEAR

TOM FORD BACKSTAGE

It was possibly the most coveted invitation this season and only the those that sat within the upper echelons of fashion were invited to a showing of Tom Ford's collection for women. After a break of 6 years Ford has returned to the stage with a collection of garments that would be best described as immaculately styled with intense glamour. The collection was luxurious with a strong leaning towards the 1920's in styling. Ford used iconic women together with the top models in the world to launch the collection. Beyonce, Lauren Hutton and Daphne Guinness joined some of the most beautiful faces in the world to launch a collection that just about upstaged the entire New York Fashion Week. Hammered gold metal jewellery added to the sleek and tight silhouettes.

What was the pre-requisite to entry at the show? NO CAMERAS! The only person allowed to shoot the collection was Terry Richardson. When asked why he didn't allow cameras to the show Ford said that fashion had become overexposed in recent years, in part because of Internet technology and a focus on celebrities. 

“I want fashion to be fun again, like it was in the ’60s,” he said. “You couldn’t wait to get the clothes and put them on, and I think we’ve lost that.”

Having said that Cathy Horyn of the New York Times managed  to sneak in a picture or two with her mobile phone

Beyonce at TOM FORD

The collection will not be all that cheap and will range from about U$ 3500 for a suit to U$20 000 for an evening dress. Nothing less expected from the man who brought back the desire to be surrounded by luxury during his stint at Gucci and YSL.

GAVIN RAJAH COLLECTION 2009/10 - FINDING BEAUTY IN NEGATIVE SPACES

Photographs: Simon Deiner

COLLECTION COUTURE
‘FINDING BEAUTY IN NEGATIVE SPACES’
INSPIRATION

Strange it would seem that in the 1980’s developing countries across the world faced economic and social difficulties as they suffered from multiple debt crises, requiring many of these countries to apply for financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Ethiopia witnessed widespread famine in the mid-1980s, resulting in the country having to depend on foreign aid to provide food to its population with the worldwide efforts of the famous Live Aid concert in 1985 to address and raise money to help Ethiopians, …………Rock Hudson died of AIDS and thus started an epidemic the world cowers in fear of even till today…………Madonna rocked the underground clubs and gave a new expression to the social scene ………South Africa was fighting human rights abuses……..……history is repeating itself in similar ways in many parts of the world in 2009. This season my inspiration is taken from the 80’s. Think underground sub-cultures, fetishes, synthpop, bold graphics, music videos the birth of ‘straight edge’, arcade games, MTV, new romanticism and nights in clubs………..the quest to find beauty in places often filled with darkness and negativity. The collection is an interesting mix of new takes on references to this era. “The good thing about fashion repeating itself is that you can simply leave out the naff stuff and focus on breathing a fresh life into the cool stuff!”

This season we have custom designed prints, embroideries and even some textiles for the collection – all of which will soon be able to be purchased by consumers to create their own garments! This season also sees a collaboration with uber cool denim brand Levi's®.

Silk taffeta, cotton tulle, wool and cashmere tweeds, denim, silk duchesse, silk stretch twills, satin finished wools and wool blend knits are integral to this collection. Gilded corded laces, Spanish cotton lace, hand fringed textiles and delicate paillette embroideries make this collection one which is labour intensive and focused on surface details.

This season also heralds a collaboration with the Levi's® brand and one of which we are exceptionally proud of. The collection will feature our take on a Levi's® inspired denim collection for men and women together with their signature silhouettes.

I am thankful to my dear friend Bastien Gonzalez, a more kind and talented soul the world is yet to discover. His creative genius and inspiration has made it possible to collaborate across continents. Finally Reverence de Bastien has arrived on South African shores and I am proud to be previewing his new product range on the models for this collection.

DEDICATION
The 80’s was a period I grew up as a kid and looking back now, it was a time that I was exposed to many places, books, ideas, forms of music, art and theatre. All of this I have my parents to thank for. This year also marks a loss for me which will never be replaced….the death of my Dad to whom I am eternally grateful to for exposing me to the fashion industry and supporting my quest to be part of it. This collection is dedicated in memory of him and his influence on my life and work…………..and to my mum who has taught me to endure adversity with courage and strength………..

WELCOME TO MY WORLD......

Not sure how this is going to go down but I suppose I have done this a few times before and more then anything found it cathartic in the extreme........alternatively I pissed off a few people oh and I think made some good friends out of it. So if you are wondering if this is an attempt at giving you my opinion on fashion, posting pictures of badly dressed people or snappy dressers or just a platform to share my opinion.........well you darn right!

As opposed to many other PC blogs I hope this does not deteriorate to a dreary expose of Long St in Cape Town, exalting badly designed (or made) product or even worse a saccharine coated showcase of the mundane and mediocre.
Having said all of this please don't feel obliged to follow this blog nor think it's a panacea to fashion in SA or your personal wardrobe crisis........I hope it evolves into something more then just hemlines for the season..........

So lets get started...........
I think that this blog will feature things that interest me as a designer and hopefully will give you some insight into what makes me do the things I do, say the things I say and the myriad of things that inspire me. Yeah as I said you don't have to read on.........you might do better and start your own blog!!!!!
Oh and do feel free to comment after all I like healthy discussion and debate........

Let's start with fashion since I am a designer and its something that consumes most of day........
Post fashion week malaise has set in for many designers in SA and whilst some of us are riding the success of our shows I can't help feeling sorry for those that are sitting back wondering ...'What now...?' This season was possibly the weakest line-up we have had in years ....and we all sit back and ask ourselves why? Well it would seem there are numerous reasons for this:

• Fashion Week organisers are bound by sponsors to include young designers
• Be overtly politically correct. Lord forbid they (orgainsers/selection committes/fashion councils or any other wannabe owners of fashion) should not be seen to be supporting crafters or unknown brands fresh out of fashion school

Off course most of you would know that I have already been attacked for being 'arrogant' and misquoted as not being supportive of young designers. Quite the opposite I would say as I am all for supporting young designers and giving them a break but I am also all for making sure that they are well equipped to sustain the hype of showing at a fashion week and they have a life after fashion week. Its not easy producing a collection...........its harder to make sure that you have all the elements to make for a commercially viable collection and beyond your wildest dreams to expect that your first collection will be a sell out and that it will cover the costs of manufacturing your garments for the show. I wonder how many of those designers will be mentored and assisted in transforming their creativity into businesses that are successful and sustainable.......

Who will be there when things unravel? The sponsors that sponsor a fashion week? The organisers? No one wants any fledgling business to fail but what are the chances that these young brands will survive without the continuous support. Are we allowing designers to show under the banner of development in the industry? What are the criteria for designers showing on a fashion week?

Just in case anyone feels that I have no idea of what its like to first enter the industry let me remind you that I burnt my fingers a million times over and slogged for seven years before I was able to create a sustainable business. I was crazy enough to believe those many years ago that creative talent was the only thing that was needed and doing fashion shows were the ultimate solution in establishing my brand.......how wrong I was.

The purpose of a fashion week is to grow an industry and create new markets for designers. If designers are allowed to show collections with badly manufactured garments then what precedent are we setting? Are we saying that its ok...........what does it do for the overall image of the industry? Badly set in sleeves, hideous fabrication and down right bad quality is unacceptable. It's time that we stopped feeling sorry and set standards in this industry. What of the poor designers who actually are being used as vehicles to access funding for these events? What of designers that are being funded to produce collections (and bad one's at that!) for these events? What about other suitably qualified and experienced designers......... Let's not go down that road of trying to teach a man to fish.......................

For those wanting to read more on this debate/discussion read Jacquie Myburgh's opinion piece.