A reimagined anniversary gift was the flame which lit the fire that is Straatmate. We spoke with the creatives behind the clothing label, Anita Makgetla and Makhosonke Castro, to get an idea of their fashion sentiments and what we can expect from them at The Common Rooms Fashion Up event.
The Fuss – How do you define “fashion” and why do people care about it so much?
Anita – I think fashion is essentially the trends associated with the the art of clothing and style. People often see clothing as an outward expression of the person inside or the person they want you to think is inside. A business man or woman in a suit expects the viewer to see them as someone to be taken seriously whereas the person with the enormous LV bag wants you to know he or she has money to spend. Each school of style has it’s own markers and identifiers and the trends within each style make up the fashion.
The Fuss – Who or what inspired you to become a designer? Was it always something you knew you would do?
Castro – I’ve always been attracted to great style for as long as I can remember. When I was in highschool me and my friends used to save up money to go shop in town, spending entire days going through factory and thrift stores. I guess I never really saw myself as being the creator of the clothes until me and Anita started this, I was always more of an aficionado of style.
Anita – Fashion is actually something I’ve always loved. When I was in school I was always sketching clothes. After highschool I got a bit distracted by life and went into Media Studies – I’m now working in advertising. But it only took until second year for me to realise I would not be truly happy unless I was designing.
The Fuss – Who are your favourite designers and why?
Castro – Rick Owens, Jeremy Scott, Raf Simmons, Rei Kawakubo (Commes des Garçon), Olivier Rousteing (Balmain), Riccardo Tisci (Givenchy)
Anita – Alexander McQueen (the man), Aitro Throup, Olivier Rousteing (Balmain), Alexander Wang, Rick Oxens, Riccardo Tisci (Givenchy). We actually have such a wide range of designers we like, many more than those listed here. We both have very different styles but still with quite a bit of overlap. We love detailing, interesting fabrics and techniques. The designers listed above all push various boundaries in exciting ways.
The Fuss – What is your biggest inspiration in life?
Straatmate – Thus far the biggest inspiration has been our relationship and how our two styles come together. Our start up story is evidence of that. Castro had a bright blue Bon Ami sportie that he absolutely adored. He called it his “homage to pantsula” and honestly I HATED it. He would take a perfectly good outfit, and to my eyes ruin it with that hat. He loved it so destroying it or making it disappear was something I just couldn’t do, so I gave him a better option. I took the hat to use as a template and got an African print and leather reversible hat made by a friend as an anniversary present. We then began producing the hats, and that’s how Straatmate started, his style combined with mine.
The Fuss – Tell us more about your collection and influences and inspirations behind it?
Straatmate – Firstly, we like comfort clothes. We luckily are both in creative industries (Anita’s in advertising and Castro’s in film) meaning we are able to get away with more casual styles. The clothes are sweat pants, sweatshirts and leggings while the hats are still the reversible bucket hats. Our focus is on quality and enduring style, clothes that we can see ourselves wearing in twenty years time and still feel comfortable. With this line we moved away from African prints as we feel that is a very expertly saturated market. We wanted to explore other less used textiles and prints. The opportunity to explore new prints came with Anita’s recent trip to India when she was able to purchase reams of fabric in different prints. This line incorporates three of those prints and we look forward to using the others in future lines and collections.
The Fuss – Fill us in on your biggest fashion or beauty secret?
Straatmate – It’s not exactly a secret, but if you’re not comfortable you will never look as good as you could. Confidence is the sexiest thing you can wear and if your clothes don’t make you feel confident then they’ll make you look awkward.
The Fuss – What do you hope to get out of taking part in Fashion Up?
Straatmate – We want to make connections and show what we can do. An event like this gives us the opportunity to meet people who understand the business we are trying to make a name in and who can help us understand how to get there. It also gives us the chance to show people in the industry what we are bringing to the table.
The Fuss – Where and how can anyone interested get a hold of your collections?
Straatmate – We have our Facebook page where we take orders directly as well as Ozlo in Maboneng which has agreed to take on our stuff. Even more exciting is that we are talking to friends in Stockholm who are opening a boutique store/gallery space and are eager to get Straatmate stock to sell.
