STAGE FRIGHT
Another Miss SA, another dress drama
THE organisers of the Miss South Africa pageant are considering holding a competition to decide who should design the dress that future winners wear at Miss World.
This follows yet another controversy over the dress that will represent South Africa this year.
The flowing yellow and orange sunrise chiffon gown, to be worn by Miss South Africa Ntandoyenkosi Kunene at the Miss World show on December 18, sparked debate about both its style and its relevance to the country.
But while the dress has stirred discussion, it has not been as controversial as some of the dresses Miss South Africas have had to wear to the global event in previous years.
The dress worn in 2014 by Rolene Strauss — who went on to win Miss World — sparked a frenzy of negative comment from South Africans. She wore a “Sophiatown and big five” inspired ensemble created by the Cape Town College of Fashion Design.
Also under fire was 2015 winner Liesl Laurie’s “African Goddess dress” made from copper, gold and leather, which designer Casper Bosman said represented the country’s mineral resources.
Miss South Africa 2004, Claudia Henkel, a publicist for Sun International, said: “We have designers who sponsor Miss South Africa during her year of reign, [and] we try to encourage looking inward for talent to design. However, we do approach external designers to pitch for the brief and submit designs. Perhaps running a competition would be a future consideration.”
She said the brief to designers was to represent the nation, but also to incorporate elements of the background of a particular Miss South Africa, as well as where she is from.
“The garments should be able to compete on an international level and translate well for stage purposes and be relevant to the events held.”
Designer JJ Schoeman said Kunene’s dress was inspired by the province she comes from, Mpumalanga. “It means the place of the rising sun. I had to keep the following in mind: the staging, lighting, flow of the fabric, the bling, a wow factor and the dancing. This all in the endeavour to make an impact in the very little time allocated to each contestant.”
South African designers were critical of the dress.
Fundudzi designer Craig Jacobs said Kunene’s dress “on face value, reads more Middle Eastern or even Indian than something inspired by Africa”.
He couldn’t understand why “fellow designers struggle to create a dress which reflects our country’s diversity”.
“We are spoilt for choice when it comes to cultural inspiration, flora and fauna so you can end up trying to please everyone with schizophrenic results,” said Jacobs.
RjKay designer Paledi Segapo, who has designed previous Miss South Africa dresses, felt Kunene’s dress “looked more like a cocktail dress”.
“I’m not sure if this is the national costume or talent competition number.”
Award-winning designer David Tlale said the dress would not make Kunene stand out.
“I liked Tatum Keshwar’s dress from 2008, it embodied so much from the country, the different fabrics and textures and crafts, plus the Zulu hat, showed off many things that this country is about.
“This platform should profile where the fashion industry is in South Africa and a little bit about the world. It should show where we are as designers in the country as well — not look like we are going to a circus but make a statement.”
Designer Gavin Rajah said beauty pageants needed to be “reinvented” to make the contestants more believable.
When designers “put them in a garment that makes them look like they are part of the set of Avatar, you get a whole other perception of what South Africa is and what the design capabilities are”.
The more negative the public perception, “the more the Miss South Africa becomes diminished in brand value and more”.
I had to keep the following in mind: the staging, lighting, flow of the fabric, the bling, a wow factor and the dancing