Designer extraordinaire at MASANGO by Siphosihle takes centre stage at this year’s biggest horse racing event, the Durban July, where he dressed South African celebrities and influencers from hitmaker Mawhoo who has taken the Amapiano genre by storm, to acclaimed DJ Lameiz Holworthy and celebrated media personality Phuthi Khomo amongst others.
MASANGO, who pushes the envelope in terms of construction, detail, and interpretation said when several A-list celebrities and influencers reached out to discuss the design ideas for their collaboration ahead of the Durban July, he started playing around with the idea of getting washed up on the beach and got inspired by the shapes and motions of the water as it covers the rocks and recedes into the ocean.
For Siphosihle, creative director at MASANGO, the theme “Ride The Wave“ is quite interesting as he referenced childhood favourite cartoons like The Little Mermaid, exploring new fabric manipulation techniques and playing with gradient embellishments to emulate the scattering and refraction of light in the ocean.
Lameiz Holworthy who is no rookie to making red carpet statements, says she was extremely excited about the theme for the Durban July. She says that she thought there would be lots of gravitation towards the blues and the greens of the oceans as well as the greys and whites (the pearls of the Ocean).
Lameiz & MASANGO were in love with the idea and were thinking of The Little Mermaid being a modern mermaid.
We were caught between being the actual little mermaid or our spin on Ursula, who is also the little mermaid. They paint her as being this wicked witch. Our twist on it is how beautiful, regal, and just stunning Ursula wanted to be. In essence, she envied The Little Mermaid. She just wanted to be beautiful.
She strongly believes that regardless of what you have, who you are and how big you are, just find the right designer, like how she found MASANGO’s Sihle, who understands her body and understands her as a person hence can make her feel like a goddess every time he dresses her.
Phuthi Khomo who stands out on the red carpet with her unique fashion sense revealed that the inspiration for her look came from the ocean’s waves and flowing with the tide. Her idea was to look like a mermaid that had just washed up on shore, walking among the people.
We were inspired by things that come from the ocean and get washed up on shore by the waves, like pearls and shiny treasures. I wanted an outfit that exudes confidence, elegance, and movement.
Top influencer & entrepreneur, Doro Mongy said she loves the theme and explained that she understood it as a commentary on the current political climate.
The tide is changing, bringing about new and exciting things for the country. Waves are unpredictable, and it’s encouraging us to participate in the change.
I was inspired by the vigour of waves crashing against a rocky shore for this look: How they envelope and caress the rocks; shape and mould them; and smoothen them out. I thought it would be interesting to play with fabric that hugs and shapes my body.
Siphosihle also expressed how he and his team enjoyed working on all the garments and were excited about the challenge that Mawhoo & Lameiz Holworthy who gave them full creative direction for their looks. Mawhoo reportedly said MASANGo must go all out with something unique and interesting, trusting MASANGO’s creative process.
