COVER: JANE & JESS

pictures jacques weyers

“I want to have fun doing what I’m doing,” says Dawn MacNab aka Disco Dawn. You get the feeling if she wasn’t, she’d move on to something which did bring her joy: “I absolutely love what I’m doing,” she grins. “I feel like I’m in a dress-up box all day.” Step inside the Disco Dawn space, and it’s hard to keep your hands to yourself.

For Dawn, this venture wasn’t planned, it just mushroomed … and continues to do so as she explores new avenues, discovers new creatives, and turns play into work. Or vice versa.

It began during lockdown: “I needed to do something to distract myself. That distraction was a little Instagram post selling imported jackets to my girlfriends.

Gorgeous branded jackets, inexpensively priced, all online and couriered to your door – they flew off the site.

For the photoshoots, the MacNab’s uMhlanga home has the perfect backdrop – a dramatic copper-covered wall.

Dawn sourced a vintage mannequin, and photographed her clothing on the mannequin or herself. She laughs, “I was having such fun – it was a wonderful artistic outlet.”

Dawn’s not new to the world of art or clothing. She studied art at school, and was soon headhunted by an iconic Durban entrepreneur. After many years at the rockface of his thriving advertising agency, she went solo, and built her own successful little advertising agency: “It just grew to the extent where it was impacting on my life.

I chose family.” But she never let go of her love of art – Disco Dawn was the perfect creative outlet.

The jackets sold well, then summer arrived. Dawn had other ideas to explore: “I met up with friend and Durban designer Gideon, and described my vision. He was keen to collaborate.” Dawn opens a cupboard to reveal not only a massive collection of fabrics, but antique table linens, cloths, doilies … and she showed them to Gideon: “I wanted elegant, pretty, wrap dresses, shorts, jumpsuits – one-off pieces you won’t find in a store. I wanted to create art in my clothes.” Gideon did just that, and although Dawn provided a loose brief, she was adamant – as with her later collabs – their signature styles must come through.

pictures jacques weyers, tony christie and dawn macnab

ABOVE: A Gideon and Dawn collab: Dawn wears a dress made from table linens, table runners, napkins and doilies.

Disco DAWN

THE DISCO PART OF DAWN MACNAB’S EXUBERANT, QUIRKY ONLINE CLOTHING RANGES, WAS BORN WHEN LOCKDOWN MADE US YEARN TO BE FREE, EXPRESS OURSELVES, DANCE AND HAVE FUN. SHE’S DOING JUST THAT, WRITES ANNE SCHAUFFER

Gideon’s range was just as she’d imagined: “My own clothing is very different,” she says, as she whips a corset with denim and tapestry off the rack. “I’m always scouring antique shops for tapestries and other interesting finds. The denim is recycled from some of my reject denim jackets, or old pairs of denim jeans.”

Recycling and repurposing is a big driver for Dawn. She loathes any kind of waste, and if she doesn’t repurpose it, the SPCA benefits: “Look at this. I bought all this underwear trim from a warehouse that recently shut their doors. Gideon used it in a range of dresses.”

Then Dawn met young, talented Alex van Heerden – Vanklan – or rather, saw a window she’d dressed for Country Road. She hunted her down, found out she was a student of Gideon’s and had won the Sustainable Fashion Award for 2020, and promptly asked her to collaborate. Alex, too, is passionate about recycling and the SPCA, so the synergy was perfect: “Look at these jumpers she made out of Lucky Star shopping bags I bought,” grins Dawn. “And this dress made out of a hammock. Completely unique.” »