Menswear Week comes to Cape Town!

South Africa’s inaugural Menswear Fashion Week was held in Cape Town from 5 – 7 February 2015, showcasing the Autumn/Winter collections of 24 designers.

The question has been raised whether the relatively small South African fashion industry really warrants a separate week devoted to men, but considering the significant rise in interest in male grooming and apparel globally, the timing seems to be right. With a local market already worth R20-billion and still growing, the organizers hope to promote the local industry by featuring the best home-grown talent as well as some designers from the rest of Africa.

Ryan Beswick who, together with Simon Deiner has spent two years planning this event, said:

“We see an incredibly bright future for menswear in SA. … We’d like to think we’ve raised the awareness of local designers within the space, especially as our public research (people outside of fashion) generally thought fashion weeks were women’s wear only. Designers are establishing truly worthy alternatives to the imported and commercial retail offerings, and with time and exposure,

[will] reach broader segments of the male consumer.”

Here then, without much further ado, are some of the designs that were featured. All images are courtesy of SDR Photo.