Staged style
Single Galz star Hloni Padi uses her character Kea for real-life fashion inspiration.
Single Galz Season 2 Mondays SABC1 (*191) 19:30
Hloni Padi and her character Kea from Single Galz (2014- current) are a match made in fashion heaven. Their style is so in sync that Hloni has personally tracked down some of the wardrobe items that Kea has worn in the sitcom to buy for herself. “I really love that it makes a statement. It’s elegant and classy, modern and feisty,” says Hloni. “Kea is not a Slay Queen – people should understand! She is a fashionista. She’s always looking at blogs, finding new stylistic choices. She wants to be that trendsetter.” But because actors aren’t allowed to buy anything from the wardrobe department, Hloni had her work cut out for her.
INSIDER INFO
“I spoke to the stylist who was working for Single Galz at the time. His name is Lehasa Moloi – there are two Lehasa Molois, the one is an actor and the other is a stylist – and he helped me. I was interested in where he found the outfits. And he said, ‘Ja, it’s very simple. People will usually look for a specific outfit, thinking that it’s already meant to be styled the way that we see it on TV. But actually, you just have to sort out these little things from small places in the CBD in town [Johannesburg], in Small Street and at clothing stores that we don’t normally go to’.” But even when the items that Hloni was chasing were sourced from a big store, the search wasn’t exactly easy.
HUNTING HER PREY
“There were actually some items where I was fighting Lehasa, like, ‘Tell me [where you found it] now!’ and he was like, ‘I doubt you’ll even find it.’ I remember I finished the scene on the Saturday and I left with Ivy-Ella (Swankie Mafoko) and we ran straight to Sandton Mr Price where there was this beautiful velvet jumpsuit. I was scared there wouldn’t be any left in my size, because you know, Mr Price, everybody goes there. Luckily I found it and it is so beautiful. Everybody asks me, ‘Where did you get this?’ And this blue jumpsuit from Forever New. Ah, wow! I asked for it. I even begged to buy it and Lehasa was just, ‘No!’ Eventually I found it at the Cresta branch. I was ecstatic. It was the Black Friday [super sales day] and I went to quite a lot of shops before I found it – I ran everywhere. I went to Sandton, I went to Mall Of Africa. I went everywhere. I am dedicated like that.”
STYLED LIKE
Hloni also snaps up items that she recognises as something Kea would wear. “There are shorts that I bought that reminded me of Kea. On the label it’s written ‘ for a reckless generation’ and Kea really is reckless. There was also a jersey that I found the same day that I was looking for the jumpsuit with Ivy-Ella. It’s open from the collarbone to just before the navel and when you wear it, it’s literally open and you can’t wear a bra. It’s so risqué and out there.”
INSPIRATION, NOT IMITATION
But while Hloni and Kea have similar tastes, they’re not the same person. “I like to style a lot of my clothes with sneakers. And my shoes always have to have white. So it’ll be my Nike Cortez or my All Stars. And that completely changes an outfit. I use accessories to make a statement and I’ll just put something around the waist to take it from casual to elegant”. Finally, Hloni warns anyone looking for that Kea touch, “Try not to dress too much like her because then you’ll look like a decorated apartment!”