Getting to know Anita, the SAFW New Talent Search Finalist and founder of Afrogrunge.

Anita is a 21-year-old fashion designer based in Delft South, in a Cape Town. She is the founder and designer behind the innovative and unorthodox fashion label, Afrogrunge. We had an opportunity to sit down with Anita and ask her a few questions, this is how it went:

HJ:      When did you start realizing that fashion was your calling and how did that develop?

Anita: I realized that I wanted to study design towards the end of grade 11. If I remember correctly in Life Orientation class we had an assignment where we had to job shadow our careers of choice, and I went to CPUT but it was closed and admin just gave me a form, and since then I was just hooked. I remember even begging my mother to change my school and allow me to do my matric in a school that offers design as a subject, but she never allowed that. She rather convinced me to do well in my academics and they might consider me based on my achievements and my subjects : business, accounting and pure math –

The skill developed through university, when I applied; I had to research everything because at that time I didn’t know ANYTHING about fashion design. I sometimes wonder how I got accepted because I met a designer – I won’t mention any names – to review my portfolio that I had prepared to apply with and he insinuated that CPUT would not consider me at all and that I would not really survive there. Its 4 years later,  with a degree with three awards for my past two collections. The skill developed through realizing that I don’t have to be bothered with anyone else’ work but mine. I was depressed at first because I had no knowledge of what I was getting into and was in a class of people who knew in all aspects what they wanted and were doing. I developed the skill through working on concepts that related to things I wanted to do outside of school such as AFROGRUNGE.

HJ:      Do you have any other interests besides fashion?

Anita: I am really interested in the property business –Kasi style – living in Delft has shown me that there is a huge ‘renting culture’ within and outside of Delft. Some days I daydream of getting myself cheap house and turning the liability into an asset which would be my big break. I am honestly just interested in accumulating wealth as a person and passing it on to next generations.

HJ:      If you were not doing fashion what else could you have done?

Anita: I have no idea. The moment I figured out I wanted to study design, my thoughts and goals shifted to just that. Fashion design became my one and only interest. I have even had some people who advised me saying I should go study again in a field that will provide me a secure job, preferably for the government so I can get benefits such as medical aid, insurance, a house, and so forth, and do fashion as a hobby.

HJ:      Who or what inspires you as a person?

Anita: I am inspired by my past experiences as a teenager. When I was younger I spent a lot of time trying to express myself and experiment with my look.

HJ:      When did you start AfroGrunge and what inspired it?

Anita: I ‘publicly’ started AFROGRUNGE in February 2014 during the first few days of University, it started off with a Tumblr page. I then made a Facebook page in July because my friend was explained to me how everyone is not on Tumblr. However, I coined the term AFROGRUNGE in high school, Grade 12, after realizing I wanted to do this fashion thing. I started brainstorming label names late in Grade 11 and that’s when I ended up with the name.

HJ:      What is AfroGrunge to you? What is your best description of it?

Anita: AFROGRUNGE to me is my past self. As I mentioned under inspiration, I am inspired by my past experiences and that’s what led to AFROGRUNGE.

AFROGRUNGE is a combination of the words AFRO meaning black and GRUNGE in relation to the subculture grunge. Back in 2012, I was a black girl (I still am that black girl) who discovered and resonated with the Grunge Subculture, however, this subculture was started by Caucasian youth somewhere in America and no one really identified with it here in SA.

HJ:      It is clear to anyone with an eye for fashion that AfroGrunge is not like your typical fashion label, according to you why is this?

Anita: I think it’s because this brand or idea is personal to me so I can stand up for it in the sense that I know what I want to give to people. I think my designs and stories behind them are very relevant and there is always someone out there that can relate to them. I don’t look at trend boards and colors that everyone loves, I just make garments I love. I turn the bad experiences I went through just for expressing myself and I recreate them into something positive and project it through fashion. I feel like, the passion I have for fashion just shines through my work and that’s what makes it different from the rest. Also, A LOT OF COLLABORATION and a lot of LISTENING also helps.

HJ:      We’ve seen you showing your pieces at various fashion shows, how has the reception been towards your pieces.

Anita: Not that great, from the first time I showcased in 2015 until now, the response has been a bit better, but it’s usually the people around me that show me the most genuine love and appreciation for what I do. I think the moderate after fashion show response is also because I am new. You know every show has its underdogs, the people that everyone goes for, and since 2015 I haven’t been that person to the shows I have gone to. I always felt like I was the opening act, in all the shows I have been to. My number one fan has always been my mother if she makes it to shows when I do showcase.

HJ:      Tell us about your latest collection; what do you have available and what inspired the collection?

Anita: My latest collection is called ‘Perspective’, again it’s inspired by the time I was experimenting with my look, as a black girl inspired by grunge. My goal was to showcase that, a lot of us creative people get criticized for the ways we choose to fashion our bodies. I wanted to show that there is always a sense of miscommunicating when it comes to clothes and not everyone will understand how I choose to dress compared to others. To make it relevant to a wider audience, I looked at; how creative South African youth dresses compared to mainstream fashion followers. I also compared how people at the forefront of street style fashion dress to mainstream fashion followers and that gave birth to my collection.

HJ:      What does this new collection consist of?

Anita: A lot of layering!!! I love layering. I just can’t have enough clothes on a model. There are a lot of denim items, a lot of satins, again it was about juxtaposition. I mixed evening wear fabrics with casual day wear. One of my looks, consisted of an evening dress made from satin, a corset (which was first considered an undergarment) made from flannel which is used for shirts, I paired the dress with a denim jacket that had a fur panel at the back, some pins and a paper collage and LASTLY the outfit was paired up with tracksuit pants and that’s considered sportswear. This look spoke to the concept of just being experimental, dressing however one chooses whether people will react to it or not. I had puffer jackets too, and there was a lot of pink in this collection.

HJ:      Who have you worked with or collaborated with in terms of the collection itself, the models and photographers?

Anita: I have not done design collaborations thus far, I am working on that for either later this year or next year. The first collection I am releasing early next year will be a collaborative effort so I am excited about that. My collection last year was shot by Luvuyo Wogqoyi, Kiria Seya assisted me with make-up and the models I worked with were Tatenda and Ntombi .

HJ:      What is your personal vision for Afro Grunge?

Anita: I just want a small studio that can double up as a store somewhere in Cape Town. I want to carry on designing and grow at a steady pace. My short terms goals are to showcase at fashion week, and hopefully distribute my garments in small stores that stock local designer brands in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

HJ:      Are we going to see more seasonal releases from Afro Grunge?

Anita: A new collection is coming up next year. I am hoping to release a collection every season, but I cannot really say, being a startup business/ brand comes with a lot of ups and downs.

HJ:      Lastly, where can people contact you if they are interested in one of your pieces?

Anita: For now, I’m running AFROGRUNGE through social media, so people can view my work on Facebook: Afro Grunge

Instagram @afrogrunge

Tumblr as Afro Grunge.