BY Nkosazana Ngwadla
South African designer Wanda Lephoto collaborates with premium cider brand Savanna on a limited-edition fashion project called ‘Dry Goods’ waterproof apparel for a world underwater. “All proceeds of the collaboration will go to GreenUP initiative,” Wanda wrote on social media.
Wanda Lephoto explores a notion of luxury dress merging African cultures, traditions, identities and approaches with global nuances to form new propositions for representation.
Founded on critical research that focuses on cultural fusion, collaboration, spirituality, inclusivity and tailoring, Wanda Lephoto aims to fuse two or more worlds to create a space that is free and allows people to negotiate the boundaries of their own representation and identity through style and culture.
Concerned with identities of otherwise under-represented people and groups, the African spirit being of core inspiration for contemporary stories told through Wanda Lephoto.
Tailoring forms the foundation from which most of the collections are built. The idea of how the past through craftsmanship can be interpreted into new modern ways to create bigger conversations where collectively as people we can go to figure out solutions for our shared lived experiences and futures.
Wanda Lephoto is here to tell a story.
“I have always maintained that in a time where the world looks at Africa for inspiration, it is always interesting to observe what, where and how Africans move. Often having to reappropriate our own culture against the commercial viability the West has over us, we seldom look past aestheticism to unwrap the true nature of who we are.”
Image: Instagram
