The style icon Jackie Burger

With her platinum crop, red lips and signature blend of vintage and modern, masculine and feminine looks, Jackie Burger has been influencing and inspiring SA style for over 25 years – and she has the career to prove it, with experience as a fashion director, magazine editor, marketing brand manager, wardrobe advisor and curator for the Design Indaba Expo.

The winner of SA Style and Africa Fashion awards, Jackie was studying sociology at Stellenbosch University when she discovered the two elements that have become leitmotifs in her closet ever since: “the allure of vintage and the appeal of menswear.” In the years that followed, she added SA designers to that mix, becoming a renowned proponent of local talent.

It was in a moment that encapsulated all of those influences and interests that Jackie devised the next step in the creative cycle of life that she holds dear.

“I had been working with a business coach and considering new initiatives, and I was visiting the Parisian apartment of my icon, Coco Chanel, when the idea came to me,” she recalls. “Thinking about Chanel’s pioneering spirit and the history of salons, I thought, why not create my own space, a place where women can gather to converse, exchange ideas and gain knowledge.”

The result was the groundbreaking Salon 58, launched in March last year. Situated in a glorious space in Stellenbosch’s PJ Olivier Art Centre, this is where style comes to life at soirées that feature inventive catwalk shows, intriguing panel discussions and sensual experiences that celebrate femininity and camaraderie.

All in all, it’s been quite a journey for the Western Cape farm girl who once saw trips to the town of Worcester as a thrilling opportunity to buy magazines and “see how smart women dressed.”