Wix street magazine

South African Graffiti Meet some of South Africa’s top graffiti artsits rocking the streets.

Street drugs Inside the world of Nyope - one of SA’s worst street drugs

Street appareal December 2017 Issue 4. ZAR40.00

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Street wear taken to new heights in South Africa DECEMBER 2017

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Contents Freash Meat: Kelsie Blake

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Corner Store

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Indigo Skate school

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Pimp my street kitchen

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Basketball gets colourful

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Fresh Meat: Phillpa Crooks

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Crystal Birch

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Meet Rooki: Richard Horne

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South African Graffiti

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South African street wear

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South African food trucks

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Shit people say

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Jackets for charity

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Nyope: street drug

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Subscribe

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Letter from the Editor

Ola Street fans!

To start, let me say that I am a magazine enthusiast, a junkie who from my earliest school days has been obsessed with flipping though the pages of magazines, first absorbed in their images and stories, later assigning and editing my own.

While technology efficiently delivers news stories to our desktops, laptops and mobile devices, magazines are all about context—how ideas and images are presented in relation to one another and within a larger point of view. Magazines

are about trust and partnership: We, the editors, will strive always to keep you engaged; you, the readers, are free to engage with us or to reject us.

In this issue we look closely at some of South African’s hottest fashions designers and to top that off, a close look at some of the best graffiti artists in the world that come straight out of South Africa.

Hello Street Team In our world of smart phones and social media, selfies are changing the face of self-portraiture. More and more people are debating the traditional view of selfie-production as self-indulgent and using the medium to send out their own messages, whether feminist statements, body and sex positivity and so much more.

Selfies can be considered everyday works of art that have cultural and political power. It would be interesting for your team to investigate the new selfie trend, as seen in between 10 and 5

Stay with us to get the latest news of the Streets!

- The Street team

love Karli

Shennay de Witt

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Abigayle Daniels

Brendon Reyneke

Liesel Blendulf

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KELSIE BLAKE

Fresh Meat:

by Gabriella Pinto Kelsie Blake is a graphic designer who wouldn’t be surprised to discover herself on an Interpol list for being somewhat of a klepto when it comes to menus and street posters. In fact, she’ still got a box of miscellaneous flyers and posters she’s collected since childhood, and refuses to throw away no matter how many times she moves house.

For her graduate work, Kelsie focused on the portrayal of women in the media and was keen to investigate the gender discrepancies between men and women’s magazines. This started out as an act of boredom while waiting for a flight home, which then inspired a zine project, and later morphed into the general theme of her graduate work.

What did you study and where?

My studies in graphic design have been a bit of journey for me. I did my first year at Stellenbosch Academy (at the age of 22) but unfortunately at the start of my second year I had to drop out. As the next best thing, I decided to try my luck at finding a job as a designer with only one year of studies. I was extremely lucky to taken in by A-design (a small design studio in Somerset West) where I worked for the next two years. I then had the unbelievable opportunity to complete my studies, and so I made the decision to go to AAA School of Advertising to acquire my degree in Creative Brand Communication.

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Please tell us about some of themes and ideas you’ve been exploring with your student work.

In my first year of studies we had to write an essay exploring the ideas John Berger covered in “Ways of Seeing” which opened my eyes to the way women were portrayed in media and advertising.

This seed went a little dormant for three years until my third year lecturer started making me question what I want to do with my design work. With feminism currently becoming more mainstream and myself being subject to some seriously sexist street harassment, my third year design work resulted in me exploring the portrayal of women in mainstream media.

How did this feed into your final project? What was the concept and how did you execute it?

My final project was an idea sparked during my trip to The Loeries. To kill some time in the airport, I decided to buy two mainstream media magazines: Cosmopolitan and GQ. My idea was to compare the content created by men and women and what I found was something I never thought I’d see. I found two similar articles that pissed me off to the Nth degree which I proceeded to have a full Facebook rant. I took the idea of the zine and explored how it could be translated from print to video. Keeping the same brand name and general idea, I edited the visuals from men’s adverts and paired them with audio of women’s adverts. It took hours of trolling the dark advertising depths of YouTube and stringing bits and pieces together to form a somewhat coherent message, but in the end I was really happy with what I produced.

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corner store

by Gabriella Pinto Matthew of Sol-Sol, Anthony of 2BOP and Anees of Young and Lazy opened Corner Store in Cape Town as a space for their labels to connect authentically with those who love them. It’s a multi-functional hub where clothing production takes place upstairs and illustration and design work is done in a separate wing at the back of the store. In this way, they help boost local production and nurture a social culture for creatives that’s beyond the cold transaction of selling and purchasing streetwear merchandise.

“The idea was almost like an imaginary friend, like when you were a kid and created this thing you wished existed, so I think the same thing applies to the store in a way. It’s like creating a space I wished existed in my city,” says Anthony. Online shopping has changed the retail landscape, but Corner Store is showing us that no matter how convenient the virtual world is, not all things can be bought online.

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corner store

SOL-SOL is a South African menswear label making good quality basics with a focus on fit, fabric and design.

They walk the line between menswear and streetwear blending clean silhouettes with muted colour tones. And a combination of bold prints with subtle details.

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2BOP STARTED IN 2004 AS A WAY TO TURN A PASSION FOR CLASSIC VIDEO GAMES INTO A FORM OF EXPRESSION. 2Bop draws inspiration primarily from games that were popular in South Africa at corner shops and arcades in the1980’s and early 1990’s when gameplay was key and graphics if they were good were an added bonus.

Disadvantaged areas during apartheid South Africa had little to offer in terms of exposure to cutting edge international design or computer technology but the bootleg arcade games that used twenty cent pieces (a 2Bop) to play at the corner shop were a window into what was happening in the outside world.

These games granted access to excellent electronic entertainment and exposed the 2Bop crew to intuitive and engaging interface design, game design, graphic and sound design primarily from Japan and North America. And so began a long fascination with the medium that shows no signs of stopping.

Anees Petersen is a young clothing designer from Cape Town. His label, Young & Lazy has been making waves in the streetwear scene in the Mother City and beyond.

Hailing from Woodstock originally, Anees draws inspiration from around him and it culminates in his impeccably crafted, barrier-pushing collections that make Young & Lazy apparel a want on everyone’s ‘cop list’.

After applying his talents to women’s wear and then men’s, Anees has also extended Young & Lazy into skatewear, with the brand repping its first skater recently

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INDIGO SKATE SCHOOL

by Indigo Skate Camp Indigo Skate Camp, situated near Durban in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, is where skateboarding enthusiasts from around the world gather to appreciate the sport of skateboarding, as well as various aspects of life, with children from a rural community.

Read on to find out how you can get involved.

World-class skateboarders such as Tony Hawk have taken the time to coach children at the Indigo Skate Camp in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, and many volunteers in recent years have had memorable experiences interacting with locals who were previously unfamiliar with skateboarding.

In an attempt to include rural and vulnerable youths, I set out to nurture sustainable skateboarding environments in the most unlikely places.

Indigo Skate Camp was the founding pilot project in a Zulu village in the Valley of 1 000 Hills.

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Skateboarding is fast becoming an attractive activity

amongst youths throughout South Africa as it’s an expression of freedom without limits and boundaries.

In an attempt to include rural and vulnerable youths, I set out to nurture sustainable skateboarding environments in the most unlikely places. Indigo Skate Camp was the founding pilot project in a Zulu village in the Valley of 1 000 Hills. This rural facility grew from 2001 with contributions from more fortunate urban participants who attended youth camps at the facility.

Today Indigo Skate Camp hosts a tourism ambassador programme employing 35 youths in the surrounding village.

As the participation

in skateboarding grew, we developed training manuals incorporating life skills.

Standout skateboarders from Indigo Skate Camp then become instructors who went on to take our programmes to neighbouring villages and then provinces.

This is how Indigo Youth Movement includes and continues to guide more youths into the world of skateboarding.

Tony Hawk; “Indigo is proof that skateboarding can change the world.”

Indigo creates sustainable skateboarding environments by: – Providing platforms for youths from diverse backgrounds to meet on equal footing – Utilizing skateboarding as a vehicle for education specifically spoken English amongst rural participants – Addressing areas of danger to vulnerable youths from sexual abuse, drug prevention to anti gangsterism – Recognizing and developing skills amongst our participants, from woodwork to event management to hospitality – Creating a sense of belonging through networks of skateboarders.

– Allowing youths the ability to believe in their infinite potential and providing avenues for these youths to explore their chosen path.

– Developing a sense of pride and ownership in shared facilities.

– Creating and advocating for employment within the skateboarding industry.

The vision of Indigo Skate Camp is ‘to provide a meeting place where we can join in our common passion and be presented opportunities to develop and discover our skills', while the values include enjoying 'good times with friends in a healthy environment, encouraging one to make the most of their abilities'.

Indigo Skate Camp has been featured on BBC News and is widely recognised for the valuable contributions it has made to the lives of both people within the local community and visiting volunteers.

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PIMPMY MY PIMP

being frank

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being frank Being Frank, a collective of three South African designers, is hoping to transform three informal food vendors into wellbranded, mobile food trailers

by Katie de Klee

Do you pay much attention to the informal food vendors and kiosks on the side of the road?

What if each of them had an eyecatching visual identity that set them apart from the others? Might they be more memorable then? South African design collective Being Frank thinks so.

Pimp My Street Kitchen, an initiative by Being Frank, is raising funds to transform three South African informal food vendor trailers into well branded, health-and-safetycompliant mobile food trailers, with fully equipped and functional kitchens.

In the process, the three female chefs who run the trailers will also learn business acumen skills and gain the knowledge to grow their businesses and help others do the same.

Being Frank is made up of three creative entrepreneurs: Kirsten Townsend, Jo Theron and Shannon Davis. The project Pimp My Street Kitchen began as a way for the three of them to give back to their community through their skills rather than cash.

Informal businesses and traders make up a large part of the South African economy, but most are not branded. Understanding the importance of business branding – especially for a business that aims to grow – Being Frank partnered with three food trailer vendors in Johannesburg. All three trailers are owned and run by female vendors – Ali, Busi and Johanna – and each was to get a unique visual identity from Being Frank. But first, the designers began a process of getting to know and understand each of the

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vendors.

Ali’s most popular dish is her vetkoek (which means “fat cake” in Afrikaans and is a type of deep fried bread very particular to South Africa and served filled with mince or jam). Busi’s small shop-caravan was partially destroyed by a tree that fell in a storm. Johanna, known by her customers as “Lady Jo”, serves quick and affordable lunches to many of the workers in Johannesburg’s Hyde Park.

When Being Frank embarked on what they thought would be a straightforward visual identity project with the vendors, they quickly realised that the everyday problems that the three ladies faced were deeper than their lack of stand-out branding.

Their poorly equipped, make-shift operations were in dire need of an upgrade in order for their business to comply with health and safety regulations. The Pimp My Street Kitchen project’s ambitions quickly grew to include access to water and proper kitchen equipment and refrigeration.

The three proposed visual identities for Ali, Busi and Lady Jo are fun, loud and reflective of the three ladies’ cultures. Busi’s new branding is inspired by Zulu culture and Ali’s Kitchen carries the distinctive patterns of the Ndebele people.

The Pimp My Street Kitchen project is currently raising funds on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, where Being Frank are also inviting local entrepreneurs to become part of the skills sharing project and “adopta-vendor”. For example, chefs can provide food preparation workshops.

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street court

BASKETBALL GETS COLOURFUL

by Dan Howarth Ill-Studio and Pigalle have returned to a basketball court they previously overhauled with bold patterns, replacing primary colours with gradients of blue, pink, purple and orange.

The Pigalle Duperré is sandwiched into a row of buildings in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.

With support from sports brand Nike, creative directors Ill-Studio and fashion label Pigalle have redesigned the compact and irregularly shaped site, two years after they first enlivened the space.

Blocks of red, yellow, blue and white from the last iteration have been painted over with brighter hues.

The rubber court surface blends from blue at the ends to pink in the centre, while gradients have also been applied to the surrounding walls.

Backboards made from translucent pink plastic were added, while the playing area and zones are marked out in white.

"Through this new court, we wish to explore the relationship between sport, art and culture and its emergence as a powerful sociocultural indicator of a period in time," said the team.

The slither of urban space between two historic residential blocks sits opposite the Pigalle Basketball store, and was first renovated by the brand's founder Stephane Ashpool and Nike in 2009.

As part of the latest update, the

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white barrier concealing it from Rue Duperré has been replaced with a lower wall and panels of blue mesh, so passers-by can now peer inside.

"The anatomy of the human body as well as its performances have had a lifelong relationship with art," the team said. "Since the legacy of Greek and Roman antiquity, sport is represented as a dominant idea within the beauty of an era."

"This never-ending quest for modernity has forged a strong bond between functionality and aesthetics over the decades," it continued.

Ill-Studio was founded in 2007

by Thomas Subreville and Léonard Vernhet. The company works across design, films, photography, fashion, installation and print for clients including Louis Vuitton, Supreme and The New York Times.

Pigalle's first store opened in 2008 and is named after the area where Ashpool grew up.

The two companies have continually collaborated since sharing an office a decade ago. Ill-Studio designed Pigalle's logo and visual identity, and has worked on a variety of art-focused projects for the brand.

Nike has previously created a basketball court in Shanghai with motion-tracking and reactive LED visualisation technology built into the floor.

Photography is by Sebastien Michelini.

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street court

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FRESH MEAT PHILIPPA CROOKS

Fresh Meat:

by Nikki Zakkas Philippa Crooks is a recent fashion design graduate from Design Academy of Fashion. Her impressive graduate range titled Norman is a combination of menswear and womenswear that embodies timeless style and lasting quality without being too ostentatious for daily wear. With her design focus being comfort and versatility, painterly prints and splashes of tangerine add a sense of playfulness to an otherwise refined and practical collection. We caught up with the young designer and illustrator to discuss what sparked her love for fashion, the themes that she explored in her student work and the best piece of advice she learned throughout her academic career.

How and why did you become interested in fashion design and illustration?

I come from a family of artists, so creativity is a very natural part of my life. I think my interest in fashion is partially tied to my love for design and aesthetics but is also related to my fascination with people. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been attracted to characters, clothes and style. The movies I enjoy attracted me because of the costume and styling. I used to play D&D with my cousins just so that I could imagine what my character would look like. I am endlessly amused by people watching. My room is a curated magpie’s nest because my eyes crave optical treats. Its a part of me that I can’t turn off, and I don’t want to. It took me a while to realise that fashion was the career path I wanted to pursue. After school I was overwhelmed with choice, so I did a general BA majoring in Visual Studies, Philosophy and Psychology. I think of it as a loopy, indirect path which brought me back to what I really wanted from the start.

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Please tell us about some of the themes and ideas that you’ve been exploring in your student work.

My graduate collection, Norman, is a playful examination of the ordinary. The name was inspired by the contemplation of normalness – the concept behind the collection. By noticing what we consider to be ‘normal’, we simultaneously appreciate and criticise what we have taken for granted. From this altered perspective we celebrate the mundane, and re-evaluate the usual. Norman amplifies normalness so that the ‘ordinary’ becomes ‘extra-ordinary’. The name also carries a nostalgic personal reference. Norman is the name of a garden gnome I knew growing up. A normal gnome named Norman… I find this relation to be fitting. A garden gnome is the ultimate trophy of kitsch, and perfectly symbolises so-called ‘normal’ life. Aesthetically, I drew inspiration from my personal cultural tradition. I appropriate the heavier aspects of history, and render them lighthearted by representing them as a nostalgic fiction.

For example, the cargo pockets used on the ‘safari shirts’ with a playful print, turns colonialism into a boy scout from a Wes Anderson film.

Please tell us about your creative process.

It’s a tricky thing to describe, because that state of creating, that ‘in the zone’ feeling, often comes from a space of zero selfawareness. The process starts with observing. Stimuli from my environment, images and concepts, soup around in my head.

These usually take a few days to brew until a delicious idea is formed. I usually solidify these sparks with sketching or writing.

For me, the design process is continuous; the original plan often evolves in the process of making.

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Crystal birch

A colourful new artwork has taken flight in Braamfontein

by Between10 and 5

Stylist, milliner, art director and all-round creative maven, Crystal Birch has set a colourful new public art installation free in the Neighbourgoods Market entrance in Braamfontein. A flock of tropical Macau parrots are turning heads skywards as they fly across the building facades on De Beer Street in a bold splash of vibrant colour.

This bright installation comes ahead of the Capitec Color Run, which is dubbed ‘the happiest 5km run on the planet’. The Color Run is an un-timed race in which thousands of participants, or ‘Color Runners’, are doused from head to toe in different colours at each kilometre.

Charl Nel, head of communications at Capitec, says that “Capitec Bank, like The Color Run, believes in health,

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happiness, individuality, freedom of expression, living life in technicolour, having fun and being YOU”.

Crystal explains that the Macau motif perfectly embodies this sentiment as it’s feathered her alterego, bringing a burst of colour to the streets of Jozi. “I chose the parrot as it’s a free-flying bird, colourful and loud!” Using the technique of wheat pasting, Crystal and her team applied the birds to the walls of buildings before attaching the 3D fabric wings that span the entrance to the market and brush against passersby underneath. “I wanted to make a giant, bright bird that would fly in the concrete jungle of Jozi representing freedom and a bold self”, she explains. “The colourful wings of the Macau should inspire people to break free and express themselves. Visitors to the market will see a parrot spiral above them like a rainbow of WOW.”

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Crystal Birch hat shot by Ulrich Knoblauch

Crystal Birch is a passionate and vivacious South African fashion stylist, who has had the opportunity to live and work in various production hubs in the USA and Europe.

Starting out as a wardrobe producer, her love for all things fashion and with a solid background as a successful milliner has allowed Crystal to mature into a highly creative stylist with a diverse set of skills. She has been exposed to many international fashion shows and porductions : Face of Africa, Ghana catwalk of the world, Mozambique

fashion week, London fashion week, Berlin fashion week, NYC fashion week, SA/CT/Durban/Jhb fashion weeks, Elle RSA, Elle décor, W magazine (Woolworths) and many more.

Her clients include Coca cola, Vodafone, Honda, Nikon, Breuninger, Vogele, Old mutual, Samsung, MTV, Macdonalds, Kyknet, Absa, sears usa, die antwoord, loeries, madame zingara, Revlon, fashion editor for FHM South Africa, stylist for wear-it app for windows 5 Germany, creative director for Africa’s next top model season 1

There are some things that everybody knows about the talented, wacky, and wonderful Crystal Birch, and something that nobody knows. For instance, she created Jack Parow’s signature long caps, she’s styled Tanzanian pop videos, and Wallpaper magazine listed her as one of the reasons to visit SA. But not everyone knows that she’s a milliner of note who has just opened a store with perfume maker Agata Karolina of House of Gozdawa at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Maboneng.

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Winner of last year’s 2016 Creative Awards design competition, Richard Horne’s graphic design and digital illustration work has a vibrant energy to it. The young creative combines analog techniques like pen and pencil with digital tools to complete pieces, often hand drawing his artworks before scanning them into Photoshop where he applies the vibrant hues that inform his distinctive palette. The theme tying together his portfolio is a unique view on skate and street culture in Cape Town and Johannesburg, which is exemplified by his youthful character drawings and streetwear label Average. Fresh out of college, we catch up with Richard about his passion for street culture, fashion, and the digital world of creativity.

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Rooki:Richard horne

by Nikki Zakkas What did you study and where?

I studied Graphic Design at Ruth Prowse School of Art. How and why did you become interested in digital design and illustration?

I have always been into cartoons and I’ve been drawing since I was a kid so as I got older, I started looking for careers in the creative industry and that’s when I found graphic design. I enjoyed traditional techniques but I’ve always wanted to go into the digital world of creativity.

In my college’s design course there were a lot of drawing and illustration classes and it was only in the second year of my studies that I really started to grasp what digital illustration is and that’s when I got passionate about working as an illustrator. I enjoy illustration this much because it combines everything I love creatively and that it gives you the opportunity to grow and explore.

Please tell us about some of the themes and ideas that you’ve been exploring in your student work.

Some of the themes that I explored in my student work were skateboarding, streetwear fashion, and subcultures.

My thesis was based on the street culture scene in Cape Town and South Africa, the growth that has been happening in these sectors and how illustration and design plays an important part in it.

How did this feed into your final project? What was the concept and how did you execute it?

Exploring those topics really gave me a better understanding about the things that I’m passionate about and how I could reflect

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it through my illustration. In one of the final projects that we had done I was able to use both illustration and design and I used all my knowledge of street wear and street culture. As a project I started a clothing brand that is inspired by the street culture and is for the street culture and also staying true to my visual language as an Illustrator and designer. The brand’s name is Average. I’ve always felt average whether its been academically and or in other parts of my life so I wanted to take the whole concept of what is considered average and change it to how I have always seen it. I think I best executed it in the Math Lit Paper 2 t-shirt graphic.

I wanted the brand fit into the street wear scene that I am interested in and also have similar qualities to what a lot of successful street wear brands have while also being somewhat different.

I created a series of illustrations called “Our Youth” looking at the youth through street wear trends and I designed a corporate identity for the brand. I then used the illustrations on the t-shirts and on skateboards.

Aside from the “Our Youth” series I created, the Math Lit Paper 2 t-shirt graphic, the vector style illustration shows the mark I received was 50% but to me it was a A+ because I sucked at maths and wasn’t really into it and getting an average mark meant that much to me.

I guess that was the whole concept of the brand and just using it as a canvas to not only show my skill as a designer and illustrator but also creating a starting point to get my foot into the street wear scene as I am so passionate about it.

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Rooki:Richard horne What has your experience as a student been like? What valuable lessons did you learn along the way?

My experience as a student has been crazy. I really went through a lot but I felt like I learned so much in the three years I studied. I never had art in school so going into college I wasn’t really sure of what to expect at all but I’m glad I decided to do things the way I did. It wasn’t easy at all but I learnt lessons that I couldn’t have learnt anywhere else.

One of the best things I learnt was to not underestimate myself and to just work as hard as possible. Winning first place in the Creative Awards Poster Design Competition was one of the moments I realized that you have to keep pushing and working hard and things will work out for the best, no matter where you come from or what you’re circumstances are. Also NEVER be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand something and Youtube is your best friend.

One more very important lesson that a friend of mine and talented illustrator Russell Abrahams taught me is: REFINE, REFINE, REFINE. Never be satisfied with your first draft and always push your work to be the best that it can be.

Please tell us about your creative process.

My creative process is pretty mellow and varies according to the project I am working on. I usually just put on some music and write some words relating to what I am doing and then I do some scamps based on these words. I also sometimes look at different references online. If I’m doing illustration work I love looking at look books for inspiration.

After doing most of the planning I do a rough sketch on paper before doing the final. I enjoy inking sketched out artworks traditionally with pen and ink and coloring it in on Photoshop. More recently I have just been sketching in Photoshop and doing everything digitally, just to improve my hand style digitally.

What’s the best piece of advice you received while studying?

The best piece of advice I got while studying came from a friend of mine, Elton Dick. Who is a graphic designer and the owner of Loki Clothing and he was also one of the reasons I got into graphic design. He told me to always stay creative.

No matter what job I’m working on or where I find myself, he told me to always push the boundaries and be creative. Whether its photography, design, painting, illustration or clothing.

Those words really stuck with me and have helped me creatively in trying new things and thinking out of the box.

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Rooki:Richard horne

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

My dream and goal right now is to be a full time illustrator so in 10 years I would like to have been working in the creative industry for a good amount of time and have built up a strong client base.

I also want to have consistent work coming in and have good exposure as an illustrator. I would also want to have developed my brand more.

Hopefully reaching more people and really impacting the local scene, adding to what is an already an amazing street culture. Skateboarding is also important to me so I definitely want to take the brand further in that direction too. I just want to have a stable income doing what I love and continue to embracing Cape Town and South Africa for its diversity and having a impact with my visual language. To end it off on in 10 years time I want have done at least 2 collaboration projects with Vans, haha!

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Falkos

FALKO’S JOURNEY THROUGH

SOUTH AFRICA

by Jessica Hunkin Falko’s street art has taken him from his beloved Cape Town to Singapore, Dubai and beyond. In search of something closer to home, the internationally renowned graffiti artist has just embarked on a journey across South Africa with Red Bull and will leave his mark in colourful murals in each of the towns, small dorpies and informal settlements he visits.

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In this way, he hopes to use his art to change the locals’ perception of value. Originally Falko was to begin his journey with a stop at Riebeek Kasteel but after a last minute change of plans, he arrived in the small farming town of Riebeek West instead.

His next destination point is Garies but after that, his trip remains unplanned

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Street art is often associated with rebellion and destruction. It’s also often overlooked by society and not considered a “real” art form. However, street art today has become more than spraying your name or “tag”. It has become a movement. South African street art veterans like Falko One and Faith47 are testament to this.

Street art now plays a pivotal role in making people aware of socio-economic, political and environmental issues that affect us. It doesn’t only entertain, but educates and informs.

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Mr.Migo Mr.Migo

GRAFFITI MR MIGO

by Jamie Petersen Mr. Migo’s involvement in graffiti started when he was still in high school in 2002. He studied graphic design for three years at the Ruth Prowse School of Art in Woodstock. He quit his nine-to-five job over a year and a half ago to pursue his career as a street artist and do more freelance and design work.

In 2014 he started the Crate Collective with fellow street artists Skubalisto and Chris Auret. “We realised that individually we were all busy pushing our own styles and as a collective we could grow and learn from each other,” he says. Together they took part in the Flatlands Tour exhibition (with other street artists) in Kgubetswana, a township near Clarens in Free State. It was held at Clarens art gallery, Ism Skism, and besides the exhibition the collective painted walls, water tanks, tuck shops, houses and more in the township.

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jack Fox

GRAFFIT JACK FOX

Jack Fox is a 17-year-old street artist based in Cape Town. He has already produced murals and participated in gallery projects in Paris, Berlin, Madagascar, New York, Switzerland and Cape Town. Besides street art, he’s also involved in comic book art and music production. His murals can be seen in the suburbs of Woodstock and Salt River in Cape Town.

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Weekend argus In one sense, Jack Fox is an elusive subject, a persona rather than a person, and, not accidentally, quite fox-like – shy, watchful, keenly intelligent, and a little wary of attention.

He is slight and soft-spoken, and occasionally seems lost for words, reaching within for ideas which he offers with an almost apologetic tentativeness, or a shy chuckle, as if saying them out loud he is testing them himself, and is not always wholly convinced the words he has chosen are adequate to the scale or import of what he wants to express.

And, you might say, no wonder; Jack Fox is, after all, a 17-year-old schoolboy, grinningly embarrassed at the probing attention of the camera lens, and seemingly bemused at the curiosity he attracts.

Except, these facts are deceptive; he is still at school, his near shoulder-length hair notwithstanding, and his birth name is Keya – but this data is incidental to the fact that Jack Fox is an artist, and one whose work, staggering in its way at his age, is featured in galleries and public spaces in Paris, Berlin, Madagascar, New York, Australia, California, Switzerland, Malaga and, of course, Cape Town.

In a way, he was born into it – his mother is the (perhaps every bit as enigmatically named) street artist, Faith47, a former teenage tagger or graffiti artist who has since gained international standing, and his father is the tattoo artist, Tyler B Murphy of Sins of Style.

He credits the influence of his parents in his early attachment to drawing – and a love of travel, the two combined, as he explained in a recent interview with arts writer Houghton Kinsman, making one “extremely aware of being in the moment”, and feeling that “anything is possible”.

It is safe to say he himself is the author of this engaging and energetic crafting of possibilities, which, today, encompasses music videos, drawing, street art, comic books, lyrics and animation.

Jack Fox started out as Cashril Plus, but decided eventually that it did not fully capture the spirit of his work or his intentions and the essentially narrative nature of his motifs, large monochrome

figures vividly and densely hatched and marked, and touched off with apparently random words or phrases.

The new name, which took him “a long time to find”, encompassed an early and lasting admiration for the fox as an animal – “I always drew foxes, and I like their nature, being shy and intelligent” – and, in “Jack”, a narrative “archetype” that resonated with what he regards as the “story-telling feel” of his work.

He was initially interested, from an early age, in graffiti, but his focus shifted to street art as being a form that was “more creative” and enabled a purer expression of his own ideas and an emerging preference for “characters”.

“I still respect graffiti a lot, but there’s a difference in the mentality… graffiti tends to be more about doing it illegally, and the style focuses on letters, whereas street art is more connected with the culture scene that’s up-and-coming, and is more fresh…”

The objective is simply stated: it is to “create an atmosphere of positive creativity”, in urban – or virtual – settings, and to “connect with people… by creating a good space”.

Achieving this depends, in part, on avoiding didactic or pre-conceived intentions, to work “intuitively”.

“It’s a very pure form of expression… and it’s important for me to have a feeling before I begin – like a concept, but not something you can put into words.

“Having that feeling is a lot better than having a detailed sketch beforehand.

Often I’ll just have a rough sketch, but what’s more important, when I walk into a space, is the feeling and atmosphere that’s there”.

Being wary of contrivance, he says he tends “not to put too much thought into it”.

“I’ve been drawing since about the age of three, and it’s really just evolved, and I’ve always wanted to naturally reflect my life, so I feel most of it is subconscious.

“I have started to have more focused ideas, but there’s always a risk in ‘oversaying’ what you are trying to get across.”

Not that it’s technically haphazard. “I have always liked to draw with a fineliner, where you have to work efficiently and be

focused. There’s no room for error.

“And it’s no different doing it on a larger scale – though it is quite a challenge when you have to use a forklift, which I’ve only done once.

“Normally I paint outlines in dots with a paintbrush, and if it seems right, I can imagine the whole.

“That’s the key to placing it in my mind and it’s much easier… and I can engage close up”.

Jack Fox is presently in his 12th year at Waldorf School – a pre-matric year that is devoted to a project, which, in his case, is a music video (on YouTube at: jack fox - go into the darkness) he has made with collaborators.

He created the electronic soundtrack and wrote the lyrics – it’s a rap-style piece – which are performed on the video by a friend of his mother’s, an ex-offender who is now with the Young in Prison reform programme. The movie also features Jack Fox’s animation, and, fleetingly, some of his murals.

He is presently working on a comic book, a web series (again, a collaboration with various others), and work for a gallery in California in the US. Jack Fox is modest about his growing body of international work – it includes a contribution, alongside work by his mother, to a slab of the Berlin Wall.

He did the piece while visiting France with Faith47, and it is now touring Europe.

He recently travelled to Australia on a commission from a clothing chain – “my dad came with me, as my chauffeur … it was pretty cool” – and, in December, he is to visit Germany and Vietnam.

In a recent article, writer and critic Ashraf Jamal wrote of Faith47’s trajectory that, “(i)ncreasingly disconnected from the country's realpolitik, drawn more to that which sanctifies the more abstractly human, her work has, as a consequence, found a larger transnational viewership”.

Remarkably, it could be that her son, one of Cape Town’s youngest artists, is feeling his way into much the same terrain.

GRAFFITI NARDSTAR

Nardstar

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by Thato Sehlabela I recently got the chance to have a chat with Nardstar, a street artist whose distinct work graces walls in galleries to walls in communities from Cape Town and Johannesburg to New York and Connecticut in the United States.

To those that might not be aware of who you are, how would you describe yourself and what you do?

I always find it difficult to answer this question. So I think the best way to describe myself is probably as a graffiti artist/street artist/mural artist who also does customising, gallery art and vector art. I don’t religiously stick to one form of street painting or art.

I like to change it up and do what I want!

What is one of the earliest or most memorable murals that inspired you to get into street art?

When I was a teenager I used to go to a skateboarding, BMX and graffiti event called the Alex Groll Cup which was held at the Boogaloos skatepark that used to be at Canal Walk. I went every year to see graf and I think the graffiti I saw there left a big impression on me.

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Your style is quite distinct, which other artist/s, graffiti or otherwise, could you say have inspired your work?

I’m inspired by all sorts of art forms, even old school fine art from centuries ago. I can’t really pin point any specific artists but I really appreciate a unique style and art attitude. Graffiti artists spend a lot of time developing their own letter style and my painting style developed directly from the way I structured and coloured my letters.

How has your journey as a graf artist been so far?

It’s been fun and funny! I meet the coolest people, interact with the strangest people on the street, see the strangest things on the streets and painting gave me the opportunity to travel. It’s also very challenging from a personal point of view as an artist but I appreciate that What determines the way you choose the locations of your murals?

A whole lot of things can determine the location: The type of wall, the size of the wall, the colour of the wall, public exposure, hidden from public, the community’s attitude to graffiti or even just random selection.

What other mediums are you looking to explore with your art? Also, are you looking to work with different materials like you did for the COOL YOUR JETS commission?

Yes. I love experimenting with different materials. It’s amazing seeing my art translated onto different surfaces that I haven’t tried before. There are so many more materials I want to mess around with. I want to experiment with anything 3D and push the scale of the experiments.

Tell us a bit more about the work you did in New York?

I went to New York because I got invited to the Trinity International Hip Hop Festival where photos of my artwork were being exhibited. The nicest guy ever called Joe Ficalora runs a project in Brooklyn called the Bushwick Collective.

He has lived in Brooklyn all his life and decided to get street artists in to beautify the area that he grew up in. His project blossomed hectically and now artists from all over the world come to Joe for walls. He invited me to paint two walls as part of the project and so I did, of course. I was way too happy to paint in the city where graffiti art was started.

Can you say that your style has evolved over the years and if so, how?

When I started painting I just wanted to paint letters and nothing else. I was a heavy letter kop. I got convinced to try out painting animals and then I was on a mission to paint as many different animals as I could. I wanted to be able to paint anything without losing my style so I think my style has developed to allow me to do that.

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sonny

GRAFFITI SONNY

by Jamie Petersen Sonny is a Johannesburg-based British-born street artist who started four years ago. He’s done murals in Woodstock, Braamfontein and Transkei. Some of his most notable work is his mural of David Ogilvy at the Johannesburg Ogilvy offices, his majestic golden eagle outside a building in Woodstock and his leaping leopard called “The Leap” outside a building in Braamfontein.

He’s known for painting wild animals and using bright colours to do so.

In an interview with Times Live, he said “I like to paint animals and see them break out of clouds with element of light.” In another interview with 10and5 in 2014, he said he first started drawing with pencil, but felt the need for colour. “I used to only do the odd pencil drawing and then got an urge for colour so I just tried to figure it all out”. His first solo exhibition is due to take place this year, with exhibitions of painted sculptures and canvas pieces held in Cape Town, London and New York

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mooklion

GRAFFITI MOOKLION

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by Simphiwe Xulu

The creator of the mural, “Durban’s Elephants” also known as Mook Lion (real name Daniel Chapman) is a 27-year-old street artist and surfer from Durban. He comes from a family of artists and is widely known for his murals of elephants around the innercity of Durban.

He tries to ensure that his street art is relevant. In an interview with Zigzag (a surfing magazine) he said, “I think art should perform a function, it should be useful.” Mook, along with his team, won the Back to the City graffiti contest in 2013, and he came second in the World Graffiti Contest in 2010. He was also a participant in the Flatlands Tours project and Ism Skism exhibition in Clarens last year. Armed with a B.Tech in fine art,

Mook’s versatility seems to be key to his success. Commercially he has worked for Blackberry and Verimark, to name a few.

Who is Mook Lion and what inspired you to become an artist?

I’m a Durban surf dog/mural/street/ graffiti artist. I come from a family of artists so it’s in my blood. The large quantity of barren walls in Durban also encourages continuing being an artist.

What shapes your signature aesthetic?

It’s the use of fine art techniques in the public space. At the moment I am using the linocut mark in most of my work.

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Have you developed a particular process to your work?

I always try to make sure my artwork in the public space is relevant. I research the site that I am working on to look for inspiration. Then I brainstorm and thought-thunder ideas. I start the technical process by creating my design using fine art techniques. Currently I am using the linocut technique as my prep work. I then attempt to use the linocut markmaking and textures in my mural painting or street art. Finally I interview members of the public and fine art experts as to their reactions to the work.

Would you say there is an element of storytelling in street art?

I think there is definitely the potential to tell a story through street art. I have had many big plans but have never really pursued that as a main focus.

However there is always a long story behind every work but it may not be clear to the viewer.

You’ve got an extensive portfolio of work that can be found all around Durban. How do you select the projects you get involved in?

It’s mostly projects that I have initiated in some way. But in general if it’s happening in the public space I will be keen to get involved.

Who are your main influences as an artist?

Faith 47, Banksy, Blu, Jose Clemente Orozco, Jr, Thami Jali and most importantly the artists I work with in Durban who are all my friends!

What have been the highlights of your career?

Winning the Back to the City Graffiti Battle 2013 with my crew… Big-Up! Completing the latest mural with my team, it’s the biggest mural we have ever done and was a massive challenge! Seeing my work in the press feels like the work is doing what it is supposed to.

There is a school of thought that believes that street art loses its purpose once it is legalized. How does one maintain “edginess” and creativity whilst working within the parameters of the law?

In most cases the work ceases to be considered street art when it is sanctioned, according to my research. It then becomes mural art or public art. As long as you are working illegally there is bound to be some edge to your work. This is the kind of work where you have the most creative freedom. However legal work is also edgy… as long as it is in the public space I feel it has an importance or purpose… even if it is simply beautification/personal intervention.

What are you currently working on?

I am currently painting and coordinating three large scale murals just outside the Durban CBD. I am collaborating with 11 other Durban artists. The 1st two murals are complete. The murals are part of the UIA Architecture Otherwhere Conference in Durban and also form part of my Master’s.

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Short feature - Street Soccer

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* June DECEMBER 2017

FAITH47 Faith47 is an internationally-acclaimed visual artist from South Africa who has been applauded for her ability to resonate with people around the world. Through her work, Faith47 attempts to disarm the strategies of global realpolitik, in order to advance the expression of personal truth. In this way, her work is both an internal and spiritual release that speaks to the complexities of the human condition, its deviant histories and existential search.

Channeling the international destinations that have been imprinted on her after two decades of interacting with urban environments as one of the most renowned and prolific muralists, she continues to examine our place in the world.

Using a wide range of media intended for gallery settings, her approach is explorative and substrate appropriate, including found and rescued objects, shrine construction, painting, projection mapping, video installation, printmaking and drawings.

The seeds for Faith47’s works begin with a raw intimacy. Exploring the duality of human relationships, her imagery carries the profound weight of our interconnectedness.

While some people see a dilapidated building as proof that the world is purging itself of the unwanted, Faith47 is reclaiming these forgotten elements with a sensuality of her own and presenting them with a virtuoso’s skill-set.

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(above) LANDFILL MEDITATION, SOUTH AFRICA, 2015 Landfill Meditation is a collaborative video from director Dane Dodds and Faith47, inspired by her street paste series of broken down cars.

Landfill Meditation doesn’t chronicle the creation of the murals but rather contextualizes them, linking Faith47’s abandoned cars to other objects and spaces once loved and desired, then later discarded.

“This project is reflecting on the notion of progress and the waste that it leaves behind,” says Faith47. “This is about integrating the worst parts of ourselves and acknowledging the damage we do to the planet as a whole.”

Landfill Meditation makes for uncomfortable viewing: rather than the usual postcard view of Cape Town or Johannesburg, Dane’s camera lingers on unsettling imagery of rats and rubbish, decomposing birds and derelict, hijacked buildings.

“We cannot separate ourselves clean and perfect from the trash we dump out back,” says the video’s voiceover, adapted from Native American author Gerald Vizenor’s short story collection, Landfill Meditation. “Being clean is a delusion.”

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SA has seen its fashion scene boom in recent years, due to its young people finally having the chance to express themselves without the obstacles of the past. SA is incredibly culturally diverse, which paired with closer links to the rest of the world due to the internet, makes for some amazing fashion.

Cape Town and Johannesburg in particular have a devoted streetwear community. Walking around the trendiest parts of town, you will find some of the dopest fits imaginable. In Cape Town, the vibe is centered around skate and surf with a more laid back aesthetic. You will see lots of the classic big t-shirt, black jeans, Vans combo. That said, more traditional hypebeast style is coming to the fore, especially after Kanye blessed us with his TLOP pop up last year. Joburg has a slightly more 'African' aesthetic, with more traditional bright colours and bold patterns as well as more high quality fashion. Of course, everyone is wearing a wide variety of styles at all times.

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by Hakim Malema With a rich history in the streetwear game, 2Bop launched in 2004, with the aim of giving tangible expression to the designer’s passion for classic video games. Playing on the word “2 bop,” which literally means 20 cents, the brand’s name references the arcade games outside the local corner store that required 2bop (or 20 cents) to enjoy. Accentuated by old-school arcade game graphics, 2Bop’s aesthetic can be characterized as modern skater meets OG Cape Town city slicker.

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South African Street wear

DEAD

by Layla Leiman

DEAD by Bangy is an exciting lifestyle brand that embodies the hyper-emotional millennial generation. Coming out of Pretoria, DEAD provides well-fitted garments with a variation on Chinese workwear silhouettes, fused with bright colors, patch work and eccentric prints that add texture to a more traditional style.

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south african street wear The only way Architecture influences me in creating a garment is by making everything make sense.

A design just has to make sense, either to you the designer or the person looking at it. I tend to direct shoots as well, I directed two of the recent Galxboy photoshoots.

What was the most valuable insight you took away from the experience?

It lets you see all the talented people that were right under your nose that you could possibly work with that you didn’t even know about.

Second year UJ architecture student Thabang Rabothata wowed reviewers at the Behance Portfolio Review night held last week at the UJ FADA Gallery, and walked away with the other top portfolio spot for the night. But unlike most of the other eager attendees, Thabang was initially just there for the free beer. When he saw what was going down, Thabang fetched his laptop to present the new lookbook for his fashion label, DEAD., which knocked the proverbial socks off the reviewers.

Where and what are you currently studying?

Currently studying Architecture at the University of Johannesburg Have you always known that you wanted to follow a creative path?

I wouldn’t really say that, I just always had a thing for clothes though. I would literally starve myself during lunch breaks, just to kill shit on casual days in high school.

You’re something of a creative hybrid. Please tell us a little about all the things you do and how they influence and relate to each other.

Ok well, I’m currently doing my second year in Architecture and I’m also about designing and making my own clothes.

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How would you describe your aesthetic style and what influences it?

Hmm, it’s just different. I normally refer to myself as being almost a human so my style is basically out of this world, I rate. I think it’s really influenced by different people and places, even colours.

It’s just all about what I’m thinking or which side of the bed I woke up on.

What is DEAD., who’s involved and what role do you play?

DEAD. is a South African street brand that’s about 6 months old, which is all about killing people with style, leaving you dead. Once you focus on the garments, they leave you dead basically. There’s more to the explanation of the name but it’ll probably take like two pages explaining that so yeah… I’ve got a few people involved, I have an illustrator who goes by the name Hamilton Thindisa, and a picture editor, Lebo Ximba and my photographer, Austin Malema and lastly, my main female model, Pabalelo Mashabela. I’m the founder and creative director.

project. This is because nothing is really planned in advance, ideas come, I work on them and if the idea is concrete enough, it stays in my mind and haunts me till the idea is brought to life. So my concepts happen backwards, first I get my collection together then I focus on the main similarity or how I’m feeling then conceptualise my ideas so they make sense with the garments.

Who and what inspires you?

Architect and fashion designer Virgil Abloh really inspires me. How he uses different materials and textures to make items seem better. Like, the garment itself could be very simple but the texture makes it pop and I feel like that’s what makes a designer, a designer. Creating a garment that doesn’t force people to stare but a garment that you can already imagine yourself in by seeing someone in it.

Jump forward ten years from now: where are you and what are you doing? ably be a qualified architect, co-owner to a creative company and building DEAD. Why I say “building” is because enough is never enough; gotta create forever.

Please tell us a little about your creative thought and work process.

Everything happens after a while hey, like in terms of a whole

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FICTION 84

South African Street Fashion

by Salokya Nag A new clothing brand has just opened its doors to the world. Based in Cape Town, Fiction – Lies & Filth is an independent menswear brand that focuses on quality garments released in limited quantities.

Launched only a week ago, the stylish brand is already impressing all the men out there.

The team is made up of Chris Dell, Anton Steinlechner and Neil Aaron. It took these three Durban boys eight years of planning to launch the brand, having registered the name five years ago. With an educational background in graphic design, Chris and Neil worked with two of the country’s biggest retailers across graphic design, fashion buying and trend forecasting. Whereas Anton is a previous owner of a label and has been working for a structural retail design company.

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“We are all about creating a high end product that is somewhat minimalistic, but if you look closely you will see lots of subtle details that we feel take our garments to the next level. We are very proudly South African and we do all our manufacturing locally.

However, if we can’t find fabrics locally that are up to the standards we are trying to maintain, then we will then import them,”

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South African Street Fashion

SOL -SOL

by Julia Webster

Established only a couple of years ago, Sol-Sol has already positioned itself as a promising label worth keeping an eye on. Focusing on fabric and fit, the garments are crafted to create casual, smart streetwear.

Caps, T-shirts and raincoats are key items, responding to transitional weather with a skate-inspired style. We talk to founder Mathew Kieser to find out about how it all started.

What are the origins of Sol-Sol? I started working on Sol-Sol in 2013, when I became extremely disillusioned with my job at the time and also with the products that were available in South Africa. There were things myself and friends wanted and couldn't get locally. Also, with South Africa's insane import duties on clothing, buying online from overseas was just too heavy.

I had always wanted to do my own line, and years before I had a small T-shirt line, so the time just seemed right, since I had some sort of knowledge of how production and sales worked, I had made some good contacts with reputable manufacturers, and just decided to go with it – essentially just making clothes that I really wanted to wear.

What were you inspired by when you started the label?

There are always lots of different inspirations with doing something like this, I guess. Mine were quite varied, from growing up skating and surfing to then working on clothing and appreciating better, well-made clothing. My dad was in construction, and I worked on site for a while and always appreciated workwear designed for being built tough. I've also been fortunate enough to travel regularly with my other job, so seeing looks and people from all over the world also left a mark on me. I guess it's just a massive mash up of all these different things, mixed up into somehow toned down pieces.

“It's hard to use some fabrics and trims, as the price point becomes unrealistic. But it forces me to find other options to make a piece of clothing great.”

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South African Street Fashion Has the brand been influenced by Durban, your hometown in South Africa?

Yes, definitely. I grew up in Durban surfing, skateboarding and playing football with my friends.

Most days were spent on the beach and I think it’s natural that all that would influence the brand in some way or another. Durban is such a cool city, it’s quite small in terms of the creative scene in South Africa, and tiny on an international scene. But there are really talented people there doing great stuff, and it’s really inspiring when you see friends out of the same smallish city as me who are making movies in New York and Hong Kong. I’ve since moved to Cape Town on the West Coast –which is amazing–, but Durban is special to me, for sure.

What do you think is most important in creating basic menswear pieces?

I am actually still trying to figure that out. I spend hours fussing about the size of a button or the cut of the hem or the shade of the colour, just for someone to look at the garment and ask if it comes with a hood or without a zip. For me, though, it’s definitely the fabric and the cut of the garment.

With home base being in South Africa –where a disposable income isn’t really a thing–, it’s hard for me to realistically use the fabrics and trims I would sometimes like to use, as the price point becomes unrealistic. But it’s not a complaint from me; it forces me to find other options to make a piece of clothing great. Also, in the greater scheme of the clothing world there is so much emphasis on “perceived value” that making toned down more basic pieces sometimes becomes a tough sell. But I wouldn’t change it; I like the clothes we make. And the more we start trading internationally and build our brand at home, people are starting to look at our stuff more seriously, which is cool.

Sol-Sol is very newly established, yet it is already all over the globe. What challenges have you met in the process of creating an international brand?

Well, we are trying to get all over the globe, still have a way to go, but thanks (laughs). I think it’s tough in general for any brand, but coming from a country at the base of Africa and trying to reach customers in Asia and Europe, when there are other fantastic brands from those regions, it’s just a little tougher.

It’s not like you are based in London and the whole of Europe is a train ride away, or you are in Hong Kong and most of Asia is a short flight away. We are a long flight away down here and I feel a lot of the world maybe doesn’t take us seriously in the fashion/clothing area. So there are difficulties, but I think that’s with anything in life. We have been really lucky in some regards with some key people and stores putting some faith in us and taking a chance whether it is stocking our brand in their stores, posting our work on their websites, or representing us as an agency.

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D.O.C.C

South African Street Fashion

Cas Tau Streetwear designer Nokana Mojapelo‘s D.O.C.C seasonal concept range is bold, unconventional and inspired by the aftermath of a relationship. Titled ‘Booty Call’, the collection was conceptualised around the idea of a mixtape. Nokana says, “I always felt like I wanted people to relate to fashion like they do lyrics. I wanted people to be attached and be able to reflect back on a time period in their lives, using my collections like anyone does when hearing an old song and immediately they reminisce.”

The graphic lookbook, shot by photographer and art director Anthony Bila, includes an intro and various ensembles labelled ‘27.3.15’, ‘Dear Diary’, ‘I told my therapist about you’, and so on, each accompanied by a short explanation. ‘Booty call’ is the reality of fickle young love, music one plays during a sour realisation and the feelings that go with it.

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South African Street Fashion Mishqa Rossier Anees Petersen is a young clothing designer from Cape Town. His label, Young & Lazy has been making waves in the streetwear scene in the Mother City and beyond. Hailing from Woodstock originally, Anees draws inspiration from around him and it culminates in his impeccably crafted, barrierpushing collections that make Young & Lazy apparel a want on everyone’s ‘cop list’. After applying his talents to women’s wear and then men’s, Anees has also extended Young & Lazy into skatewear, with the brand repping its first skater recently.

I sat down with Anees to talk fashion, our city and being cool, obviously.

Where did everything begin with Young & Lazy and how did the name originate?

In 2009 I opened a store with some fellow students/ colleagues and we all decided to do our own brands. I had to come up with a name quite quickly and wanted something true and comfortable; hence Young & Lazy. The name also epitomised me at the time (laughs), so yeah, I’m still living the brand. After college I worked at Woolworths to gain some experience and then decided to go at it alone with Young & Lazy.

where I’m ‘born and raised’ (Cape Town) as a focal point, to draw inspiration from, so my work is more authentic.

What do you think of current Cape Town streetwear?

Well, street culture in Cape Town actually exists and I’m grateful for that. The street style here has been around for a while and I have seen growth but yes, obviously, Cape Town also mimics international trends, with little to no originality. Too many people make the mistake of drawing inspiration from the Internet instead of their surroundings.

How do you go about selecting styles or materials to use?

What does your creative process entail?

Every project or collection is different. I always try to work with people whose work I am fond of or admire and I really enjoy working with unknown people. My main process would be: gathering a concept, then doing up mood boards and storyboards (to flesh out the concept), then I select fabrics and then it’s creating the patterns for the garments, sampling and lastly, production.

What is your favourite part about being a fashion designer?

The environment it puts me in…meeting amazing people.

It gives me the opportunity to work with my hands. I work with my hands every day and get to create something – that’s what I always wanted.

What will we see from Young & Lazy’s winter range?

I’ve got a few collaborations coming out with Montle Moorosi and Mia Chaplin. The winter range will be dropping at the end of May 2015 and then another collection at the end of June. I’m trying to put out a new collection every month and also trying to push the skate division of the Young & Lazy brand more.

Do you think living in a city like Cape Town itself influences your work?

Definitely. It was only recently, though, that I decided to use

Plans for the future?

I’d like to take Young & Lazy abroad and splitting it into the fashion and skating aspects of the brand.

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South African Street Fashion

Marcia Elizabeth Luke Maritz is the creator of Not Seen Store, the Cape Town based brand, locally hand crafted and inspired by counter culture, youth culture, streetwear and graffiti. On edge and not on hype.

Not Seen has recently launched its online store that is designed exceedingly well. Navigation is easy, the typography selected for the overall feel is wonderful and so is the logo design. Of course what mostly drew my attention was the actual design of the products and their superb lookbooks.

In conversation I had with the creator and owner of the brand he mentioned that his branding concept was created initially as an idea to provide an online platform to buy and resell products like analogue cameras.

Maritz continues by saying that due to continuous positive reaction his brand quickly developed into what it is today.

What I find so undeniably intriguing about Not Seen is the fact that Maritz not only designs the products which consists of roadmap bags, fanny packs and rain ponchos, he also does all the styling and photography of the lookbooks himself. His label is a

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personally directed branding concept.

Maritz is an incredibly talented individual with not only the gift of a photographer’s eye but a key sense of design and color combinations.

He is bringing out an extremely vivid edginess in his brand that has become his signature. Maritz is not just an entrepreneur. He is an artist.

Not Seen focuses predominantly on the roadmap bag and fanny pack, which has been making its way back onto the streets and the runways of the fashion world since 2015 as a unique way of carrying essentials.

What all Not Seen’s products have in common is their minimalist design using primary colors and black.

The products are durable and well constructed. These designs can be used to customize quite a number of different ensembles as can be seen when looking at how Maritz styles his lookbooks. What is striking about this branding concept is how Maritz keeps it proudly South African by using Cape Town’s natural environments as well as cityscape as the backdrop for his lookbooks.

His choice of models subtly reminds me of the type of models American Apparel often steered towards; they fit the “street brand” image incredibly well and have an edgy, rebel teen look to them that is setting the tone for this off beat brand.

The most important thing to recognize about Maritz’ brainchild is that it is intended to add value to the consumers daily experience. In Luke’s own words, his brand is not hype and is here to stay. Not Seen Store is already making waves and I look forward to seeing the vision grow.

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South African Street Fashion We started customizing jackets and T-shirts by adding print material on it, with the demand of our customized clothing increasing, opening our own street wear clothing line was the next logical option.

STYLAGANG recently won the Adidas best original crew search, take us through that journey, why you entered and why you think you won.

We entered the Adidas Originals most original crew search because, with the hype growing around us as a collective, we thought we would just give it a try as see if our fan base is that big, and hoping to end up at least at the top 10, because it would be so embarrassing not to. We went on a campaign to ask our friends to vote for us, we were so determined to win. We created poster from cardboards with all the details you need to follower for you to cast your vote, posing in the streets of Soweto, gathering votes. Our promotional grind was heavy, for we wanted to show the whole of South Africa our capabilities and originality. Our Originality and drive prosper made us win.

by Rudzani “RooAT” Netshiheni With all the HYPE going around street brands taking over the fashion game and gaining the support of the masses, it has become important to recognize those street brands leading the youth, both local and international.

Youth culture is becoming more fashion conscious day by day and with that said I got the opportunity to interview Adidas best original crew winners STYLAGANG and got the scoop on how they got to where they are today, how they hustled to reach where they are today and basically what makes them unique…let’s get schooled don’t sleep.

When and how did the formation of STYLAGANG come about?

It was formed in 2011. We started out as a group of individuals that would dress up stylish and attend events to get recognized. We later opened up our blog: Stylagang.tumblr.com which was aimed at showing our unique and authentic take on fashion to the world. After noticing that we need money to sustain our look we started selling vintage clothes which we got from thrift shops in Johannesburg, at Grove Market and through social networks.

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What is the concept behind STYLAGANG? Any motto STYLAGANG stands by?

Our motto is ‘setting trends and making friends’.

The exposure and attention that STYLAGANG has been receiving just seems to get better better, as Cassper Nyovest was even seen rocking some of your gear in his latest Gusheshe music video.

There are many other competitive street brands out there that have gained a certain level of success/failure. What would you say really separates STYLAGANG brand from the rest?

Stylagang is an authentic clothing brand that is determined to install new style or new meaning of fashion to street wear. We bridge the gap between high end clothing and street wear clothing. We are more focused on creating items that people would like to own, so that it can complete their outfits.

Your aim is to “showcase a distinct look in your natural habitat”, according to your tumblr page, what inspirations help to create the look and feel of each item that you produce?

We are inspired by the things that we see around us, we like to take existing trends, incorporate them with our own distinct taste so that we can create future trends that people will follow.

What range of clothing does STYLAGANG offer?

One of the worlds creative t-shirts, well known as the Dashiki t-shirt. Crew necks/ hoodies, beanies, pants, leather tank tops, leather drop crotch pants.

Snapbacks.

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Food trucks have come a long way since the first mobile kitchens trundled their way across the American prairies. Back then, in the mid-1800s, they were dubbed ‘chuckwagons’, and the best ‘chuck’ that the hungry lumberjacks and cowboys could hope for would be salt pork and sourdough biscuits, soggy beans and bitter coffee.

Happily, today’s modern interpretation of the humble chuckwagon dishes up an altogether more upmarket offering, and food trucks have become on-trend dining options worldwide.

While New York and London may lead the food truck race, South Africa is not without its contenders, with a boom in the number of mobile kitchens hitting city streets over the past five years.

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FOOD TRUCKS

Dos Chido

by Richard Holmes South Africans certainly like a little spice, so little wonder Indian curry is hot property from local trucks. Pick of the bunch is Hemazing, which puts a modern slant on Indian cuisine with its flaming hot curry bowls and nachos doused in rich butter chicken.

The coastal city of Durban is home to a sizeable Indian population, and the spicy offerings here are also excellent. Fudart STREATery is known for excellent lamb bunny chow – a half-loaf of bread hollowed out and filled with aromatic curry – while Naked Bones whips together delicious street-savvy chicken with fiery peri-peri sauce. Also look out for the superb grilled meats from Roast Co., started by the team behind the city’s much-loved 9th Avenue Bistro.

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FOOD TRUCKS

by Richard Holmes How did you start your food truck?

I have been in the food and beverage industry for twenty years. I was the executive chef at Prana Lodge on the Wild Coast and Val de Vie Wine and Polo Estate in Paarl. I needed a change and the food truck industry had just taken off. I liked the idea of being able to make gourmet street food and be mobile.

What has been one of the wildest or most amazing experience of your business?

It would have to be the Rodrigues concert, selling 800 burgers in four hours. It was insane. Being a chef I come alive under pressure and having twenty people in front off the truck and another twenty waiting for orders to be pushed out, that makes us tick.

What is so unique about your food truck and its food?

We do gourmet style food and offer a chef based food experience from a mobile unit.

What is your signature dish or most unique item on your menu?

That would be our Pulled Kudu Bun with Cardamom Strawberry Chutney & Brie

How did you come about the name of your food truck?

I liked the play on ‘the real Mccoy’ and mokhoya then adapted that to Makoy.

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

Making food that’s what we do.

What sort of places/ functions/ festivals is your food truck present?

We do the Grahamstown Festival and various food truck events in the Eastern Cape. We cater for functions and events and have done year end functions for Discovery, Dimension Data, Axxess etc.

What attracted you to the food truck industry?

The ability to be free of corporate constraints and doing what I love how I want to.

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What are some advantages of having and owning a food truck?

Sightseeing and meeting interesting people. Doing surfing events and having the beach as your shop.

What are some Disadvantages of having and owning a food truck?

Finding the right people with the right personalities to work in a 1m x 3m environment, for extended time.

What sets you apart from every other food truck?

We The Makoy Food Truck.

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FOOD TRUCKS

by Richard Holmes With its trend-spotting foodie culture, it’s little surprise that Cape Town is far and away the food truck capital of Africa. Limoncello is widely regarded as the truck that started it all here; with owner/chef Luca Castiglione introducing hungry locals to the world of gourmet grub on the go.

Today the retro-styled Limoncello truck can be found across the city – notably Salt River Circle in up-and-coming Woodstock – dishing up its signature cheese-filled calzone and more-ish Nutella bombs. Earthfire is another great Italian option, serving fine thin-crust pizza at selected winelands markets and festivals.

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Sh!t people say

South African street fashion is very much an up and coming genre of fashion in SA, especially amongst teens and adults. 2 Bop and Yung and Lazy.... Tusa Mamba isnt a designer but he works in Dip Street in SA (may own it not too sure). He is influential as he wears alot of SA street brands so he advertises these brands on various social media platforms, as well as selling SA brands at Dip Street Store.

The corner store is also good for SA street fashion

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The evolution of African fashion – from simple designs sewn and worn locally to contemporary designs sought globally – is akin to the evolution of the continent – lack of connectivity and basic infrastructure giving way to the growth in mobile penetration, globalization and the rise of the middle class. The multiple colors and patterns of African fabrics, sewn together into a single piece of clothing – a shirt, a skirt, a pair of shorts, a blazer or even a hat – can be said to portray how each African tribe, culture, language, custom and people knit together to form a continent that is holistic yet uniquely individualistic; with the colors of each multi-patterned fabric showcasing the vibrancy of the people as well as the depth of the continent’s diversity.

matt smit

Anwuli Okeke

Oliver momberg

Sh!t People say

South African street fashion has been and continues to be heavily influenced by a mix of different international brands from all over the world. While I think it is necessary to embrace and combine different aspects of culture in order to have a holistic and comprehensive understanding of street fashion culture at large, I think it is incredibly important to find one’s own identity within their culture rather than looking elsewhere for inspiration. Local brands like Sol Sol, Young and Layzee, 2Bop, and Good Good Good are doing good work in the industry. One can see that they are heavily influenced by already established brands from places such as USA, Japan, the UK, Australia and even Russia. While this influence isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it should not eclipse the process of developing one’s own identity within their own culture.

DECEMBER 2017

Sh!t people say

2017 DECEMBER

Five years since the first MBFWAfrica, Africans are no longer looking solely to Europe and the US for fashion inspiration.

They are proudly defining their own styles and often choosing to wear local designers instead of overseas labels.

In addition, the world increasingly looks to Africa for innovative and globally competitive designs,

tashkaya

The future of fashion in South Africa is bright. My vision is that every South African will re-evaluate their shopping habits and start supporting local designers or buying clothing made in South Africa.

We already have begun. Manufacturing companies like TCI Apparel, South Africa’s largest clothing manufacturing company already adopts sustainable options. I believe that more and more companies will do the same. The future of South African fashion never looked greener.

Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe.

Cyril Naicker

This issue we catch up with a bunch of South African graffiti artists and get them to talk about their work and the developing graffiti scene in South Africa.

There is a tremendous amount of design talent in South Africa, the problem isn’t in finding the talent. The problem is often the lack of business skills required to take a small business to a profitable enterprise that is sustainable in the long term. Things like financial knowledge, marketing, pricing models, general management skills. All these things are critical to take a good designer and turning them into the owner of a successful business.

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a gift to charity

JACKETS FOR CHARITY

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A gift to charity

by Taj Reed On the whole, Liberty Fairs is a men’s contemporary trade event.

One that has built its foundation in fashion and lifestyle markets by hosting industry leading brands, media and buyers across shows in New York City, Las Vegas and Florence, Italy.

The Liberty Fairs mantra? Freedom and space without boundaries. Especially fitting for Liberty’s latest initiative: Art for Africa. Parked at the intersection of fashion, art and charity, Art for Africa is a collaborative initiative between Liberty Fairs, 14+ Foundation, and Paddle8 in which 12 different artists were commissioned to bring their works to life using only a Schott NYC Police Motorcycle Leather Jacket or a Levi’s Denim Trucker Jacket as their canvas.

Each of the 12 artists approached the project from their

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own unique perspective and medium, making for truly one-off interpretations of the classic outerwear silhouettes—some even opting to transform their jacket into unwearable pieces of display art.

All 12 jackets are currently on display at Liberty Fairs New York at Pier 94 this week and at Liberty Fairs Las Vegas in February at the Sands Expo Center. Bidding auctions are available to Liberty Fairs attendees and the Paddle8 community beginning February 8 and lasting through February 22 (ending day of Liberty Las Vegas).

Proceeds from the auction will benefit 14+ Foundation—a nonprofit dedicated to building and operating schools and orphanages in rural areas of Africa. To get involved, visit the Paddle8 website, and be sure to check out the front-of-house Art for Africa display at Liberty Fairs New York through January 26, and in February from 20-22.

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NYOPE Street drugs like nyaope and tik are destroying the futures of South African youth and ruining the lives of their parents. When they should be in school, addicted children are scavenging for money to finance their habits.

Daily Maverick visits a Soweto nyaope dealer and looks at the issue.

by Bheki Simelane & Greg Nicolson

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street drugs A friend leads the way to the home of a nyaope dealer in Protea South, Soweto.

While waiting for the dealer, two boys in school uniform walk in through the gate – an old mattress hinged on one side and tied with wire on the other.

The boys are relaxed and familiar with the dealer when they meet. They make themselves comfortable on stones in the yard. Their white school shirts are deliberately concealed under the cover of worker’s jackets.

Nyaope (also called whoonga) is made from a cocktail of ingredients such as rat poison, heroin and antiretrovirals and is destroying the futures of youths in the area. Along with tik (methamphetamine) it’s a nightmare for many parents across the country as they pray that their own kids don’t fall to temptation.

Nyaope is a white powder that sometimes takes on a creamy tint. It’s usually sold in small parcels at R30 a portion. Boys in Johannesburg will tell you it all began in Pretoria, with Nigerians responsible for the supply.

Users begin with rolling paper because nyaope is hard to smoke in powder form. They add dagga, roll the combination in the paper, and light it up.

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The amount of dagga will depend on how strong the user wants the “stuff” to be.

You’re not hungry when you smoke, the boys at the dealer’s tell Daily Maverick. You just want snacks.

Around Soweto you can see addicts going to extremes to finance their habit.

From sheet metal to electric cables, water taps, gates, copper, aluminum; whatever they can lay their hands on, they steal.

These are exchanged for cash in scrap yards. The amount of cash one receives depends on the weight of the goods.

Boys as young as 11 years’ old comb

Nyaope, however, is ripping apart townships and suburbs alike leaving in its wake a trail of destruction. dumpsites in search of scrap metal.

They compete with the local homeless, sometimes even their unemployed fathers who want the money for their own reasons. They spend hours at dumpsites, painstakingly separating plastic casing from copper cables. They burn the cables, revealing the copper inside. The charred remains are then removed, a task made

easier after the cables have been burnt.

Then it’s market time. Some prefer to squash the copper into a ball, believing that it increases the weight.

Another two boys, teenagers, walk into the dealer’s den. They aren’t in uniform but look young enough to be in school.

They start teasing the pupils. “It makes you abandon class. You can no longer cope,” they jibe. The dealer hands them the parcels and they leave, watching suspiciously as they pass. It is only 11:00 in the morning; they should be in school.

They leave with their parcel, bouncing their shoulders in satisfaction as they walk.

The two pupils are then served and they too leave, arguing over who should carry the parcel. The dispute is resolved and both disappear into the distance with their hands in their pockets.

The dealer – tall, female, about 40-years-old, who doesn’t want to be named – approaches and asks if she can help.

“They come from all over. These boys just love nyaope. Girls too, but girls are reluctant to come and buy for themselves so they prefer to send the boys,” she says.

“There are girls, however, who do not mind coming here to buy. “I do not have much in stock,” she acknowledges.

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street drugs

Most of the users are in trouble with the law, says the dealer. “Nyaope is the in thing,” says the friend who took Daily Maverick to the dealer’s house. “Everyone loves it. It has really made an entry.” It’s better than “bottle kop” – the old fad involving smoking drugs through the neck of a beer bottle like a pipe – because that requires more privacy, he adds.

Nyaope, however, is ripping apart townships and suburbs alike leaving in its wake a trail of destruction. It consumes its users while often destroying their school, work and family life.

Declaring a summit on how to combat the effects of nyaope, Gauteng agriculture, rural and social development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza said in March, nyaope is one of South Africa’s greatest social and health problems, causing injuries like eyeimpairment and splitting families apart.

Police statistics show 60% of crimes in South Africa are related to substance abuse and nyaope users form a significant portion of drug users. The drug hasn’t been classified as an illegal substance but the Department of Justice

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is moving to amend the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act to ensure charges can be laid for possession and dealing of the drug. Charges will rely on the dagga and heroin commonly found in nyaope.

Shadow minister of social development Mike Waters said earlier this year that it must be classified as an illegal substance as soon as possible. At the Gauteng summit on nyaope MayathulaKhoza committed to establishing a task team to have nyaope classified as illegal and assess the drug’s effects on communities. Her department is confident it will soon be made illegal.

The issue of drugs in society made headline news this week as “Desperate moms and sisters” of drug addicts in Soweto published a letter describing their pain and begging President Jacob Zuma to take action.

They described a harrowing situation.

Children go to work for drug dealers to get a free hit while young girls are working as prostitutes in the drug dens across the area, they said. Addicted sons and daughters have their parents and siblings

in fear while they steal and threaten violence.

“We don’t trust anyone anymore.

Everyone is corrupt. Help us lock up these murderers, drug dealers for good. Set up a special court for all drug related crime.

Close down all the Lolli Lounges. Dismiss all corrupt cops that’s on a payroll. Call in the K9 unit. We need a rehab centre that will assist with detoxing our kids and give them a second chance at life. We need recreation centres to keep our kids busy, fix our parks and pools,” the family members begged.

The emotional plea has garnered much attention but it’s unclear whether it will do any good. Trade is booming at the Protea South dealer’s residence. After a brief moment of business, the dealer says she has run out completely. Another customer walks in only to be disappointed.

“Oh, sorry, my brother, there is nothing left," the dealer tells him. His face slides, the way water leaves a sink, and without saying a word he leaves.

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STREET SIGNS

The Italy-based French artist, Clet Abraham, has been hacking street signs all over Europe, injecting a little humor into the mundane commute.

The omnipresence of street signs, other than being a sign of the [Italian] culture of “anti-responsibility”, can verge on the absurd. The message is very poor (sometimes I feel like I’m being treated like an idiot by them) and yet they have a highly invasive aesthetic. As a professional in the world of visual space, I feel called to intervene, both to notify the public of the absurdity of the situation, and to propose a constructive and respectful alternative….

The final objective? That traffic keeps flowing without us feeling spoken down to!

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