For Immediate Release
South Africa's David Tlale returns to New York Fashion Week
NEW YORK CITY (September 4, 2013) -- Brand South Africa is proud to present David Tlale at the Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week on September 5.
Tlale, a renowned South African designer, will present his 2014 spring collection at The Box on Thursday. This is his third presentation at Lincoln Center as a solo design house, where he will showcase what Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week describes as work that is “both daring and dramatic—a brand that defies convention and a brand that impenitently employs unpredictable use and understanding of fabric, color and texture.”
The David Tlale brand was born in 2003, but its creator was bitten by the fashion bug years earlier while growing up in the east of Johannesburg. He attributes his creativity and design style to the diverse cultures that surrounded him as a young boy and today in South Africa.
“South Africa has 11 official languages, but that doesn’t mean we only have 11 cultures. We have beyond that. Those beautiful cultures have been instilled in me and they account for the craftsmanship and attention to detail that goes into the making of each and every one of our garments,” says Tlale.
To demonstrate the detail that goes into every piece, Tlale describes a jacket that will be part of the spring collection which has 200 strands of beads on each arm. “Four hundred strands of beads finishing a garment…that is what sets apart. We are bringing African heritage into the New York fashion space.”
South Africa’s fashion industry has grown exponentially. In 2012 the country became one of 30 in which Mercedes-Benz is involved in fashion events. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Johannesburg was launched in March last year to showcase Autumn/Winter collections, followed by Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Cape Town in July for the Spring/Summer shows. Both events are now run annually.
The different sectors within South Africa’s fashion industry – manufacturing; media; retail; recruitment – make up what is the fifth largest employment sector in the country.
The country has produced some talented fashion designers who have gone on to work for some of the world’s biggest design houses, like Kara Janx who participated in the fashion design reality show Project Runway in 2005 and 2006. She has since gone on to dress celebrities including Julia Roberts, Sarah Jessica Parker and Natalie Portman. One other such name is Marc Bouwer whose designs have been featured in magazines like Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Glamour, and InStyle and been worn by stars like Beyonce, Angelina Jolie and fellow South African Charlize Theron.
“South African fashion designers are no longer just making clothes, we are now in the business of fashion and we are ready to play in the global space,” says Tlale.
About Brand South Africa
Brand South Africa is the official marketing agency of South Africa, with a mandate to build the country’s brand reputation, in order to improve its global competitiveness abroad.
For more information and to schedule an interview, contact:
Lihle Mtshali (Leesh)
Brand South Africa, Program Manager: USA
Mobile: +1 646 3195674
Email: lihlem@brandsouthafrica.com
Visit: www.brandsouthafrica.com |
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