A floating jetty of fashion fantasy
● A scenic setting floating between Table Mountain and the deep blue sea to view a fashion parade pairing the ultimate in luxury with items that won’t break the bank.
That’s where I found myself last Sunday afternoon to view the third edition of the Cape Town Resort Collections.
This annual showcase, which was meant to take place in December before Omicron upset our holiday plans, is sponsored by Pick n Pay, which has gone from filling our trolleys to helping us kit out our wardrobes.
It was held on a novel locale: a jetty at the Mother City’s V&A Waterfront, a few steps away from the Table Bay Hotel.
Heading out of the hotel and along the wharf, ushers check our vaccination certificates before we step on to the pier, where we are offered prosecco specially flown in from Italy and cocktails featuring low-cal and low-sugar cocktails from drinks company Brooks Hard Seltzer.
I make my way into the VIP tent next to a docked yacht where I meet someone who could probably afford snapping up a Russian oligarch’s seized floating palace.
That’s Lady Linda Wong Davies, the philanthropist and art lover I first met two weeks ago at the Cape Town Art Fair, who is clutching her cane and wearing very covetable Roger Vivier buckled sneakers to finish off her casual but chic white ensemble. Lady Linda tells me she is shortly heading back to London (according to the FT, she owns a five-storey Georgian in plush Kensington) and then Asia.
LL goes on to chat art with Shelleen Maharaj and Hoosein Mahomed, whose newly opened space, Church, just might be the city’s first wholly black-owned gallery of its kind.
On to meeting someone who helped feed more than 20-million needy South Africans during the height of the pandemic through the Feed the Nation campaign.
She’s Suzanne Ackerman, daughter of Pick n Pay founder Raymond, who heads the company’s small business incubator and will soon be stepping down from her role as the group’s transformation director.
While Suzanne’s husband, Paul Berman, is not with her, I do spot her brother, Jonathan Ackerman, and his wife Samantha (wearing a rather fetching garment made from her gran’s repurposed doilies, I hear). I also meet Pick n Pay’s incoming CEO, Pieter Boone, who hails from the Netherlands.
Hello to Priscilla Urquhart from CocaCola Peninsula Beverages (one of the day’s other sponsors) before catching up with one of Mzansi’s most famous couples, Basetsana and Romeo Kumalo.
I wish Romeo, who recently turned the big five-0, a happy birthday, and compliment Bassie on her print number finished off with feathers, which was created by Gavin Rajah.
Then it’s on to the designer behind Bassie’s outfit who wears two hats on the day — not only was Gavin showing his latest collection but he is also the brains behind the show which, unlike other fashion fests frequented by bloggers, actually reels in the folk who splurge on locally made designs.
Minutes before the show is about to start, in walks one of those sorts — Pinky Gobodo, ex-wife of Old Mutual’s Gcina Gobodo, wearing a black lace with leopard print Gavin Rajah original.
Pinky, who recently completed her interior design studies (and finished her first commission, fitting out a wellness store in Atlanta in the US, while doing so) arrives with actress Bonnie Mbuli, who returns to TV screens soon in the BBC hit series Noughts + Crosses.
I take my front-row seat next to Gretha Scholtz, a cookbook author who is married to European restaurateur Mogens Tholstrup, the former owner of London landmark Daphne, as Gavin heads to the microphone to welcome us all.
“Most of you would be very unaware of ... exactly how much the work we are doing with Pick n Pay has transformed the landscape of the clothing industry — we are constantly developing new talent, innovating, manufacturing locally ... and we hope you are buying locally,” he says about a collaboration with the retailer.
And the designs?
To a live soundtrack performed by singer Theodore Smidt (who goes by the moniker Tye Platinum) and his band, we watch collections from labels including celebrated Mozambican designer Taibo Bacar, Maze Collective (with designer Craig Port sending his daughter Khloe in one monotone look) and Laduma Ngxokolo’s Maxhosa label, which continues exploring his signature Xhosa-inspired prints.
I loved the effervescence of Mzukisi Mbane’s prints for his Imprint label and I have no doubt that young designer Julia Buchanan’s designs for Pick n Pay are flying off the shelves.
Meanwhile, Gavin told me his luxurious collection, which was strong on Greek mati motifs, was inspired by the book The Evil Eye: The Classic Account of an Ancient Superstition by Thomas Elworthy.
Foodwise, it was a feast fit for the jet set