
15 Nov We are the generation transforming the South African fashion industry
From the runway to the pages of print magazines, we spotlight five influential players in fashion right now. Model Elle Rose van der Burg, fashion designer Tsepo Tsotetsi, fashion editor Khomotso Moloto, makeup artist Orli Oh Meiri and fashion photographer Katinka Bester are electrifying the fashion landscape with their creative fearlessness, and forging successful careers in a notoriously fickle business. Here, they sound off on creativity, inspiration and the state of the South African industry.
Katinka Bester
The fashion photographer
In South Africa, there is a small group of mostly male photographers that tend to land the most coveted gigs in the industry over and over. Cape Town-born and based photographer Katinka Bester is helping to break this mould. She shoots for a variety of major magazines, including Marie Claire South Africa, Cosmopolitan South Africa and Paris-based Self Service Magazine. Her preference for soft lighting and subtly faded colors gives her images a painterly quality.
What is it about the genre of fashion photography that appeals to you?
Fashion photography and in particular high fashion photography is a unique interface between art and consumerism. Fashion allows you to be on the frontier of these two realms.
Who or what inspires you?
The unknown; that is the photograph that is yet to be captured.
Why is it important to have more womxn behind the camera?
For as long as the industry is controlled by men, it is constrained to exclude the female dynamic or at least is constrained to portray a masculine interpretation of what the female dynamic should be.
When I was flown to New York for the first time. I was 21 years old and I thought I would just prance around and explore the city. I was assisting photographer Ulrich Knoblauch at the time, and he said to me, “Listen, I want you to shoot the Alexander Wang show for Self Service magazine.” It was a big show so it was exciting and scary at the same time. It was a success in terms of the images — the magazine was very happy. Through assisting Ulrich I got to see the world. I went to Hawaii, San Francisco, the British Virgin Islands and other places.
Khomotso Moloto
The fashion editor
Khomotso Moloto is a Joburg-based fashion and hair stylist and group fashion editor at Tiso Black Star, formally known as Times Media. She works across five publications — the Sunday Times, S Mag, Wanted, The Edit and The Edit Man — supervising and developing content for newspaper sections, photoshoots and online features.
How did you land your job?
I was on set with a friend who was being photographed for the Sunday Times Fashion Weekly and basically asked for an internship right there and then from the former fashion editor Roxanne Robinson. She was skeptical due to the demands of the job and me having two kids, but she gave me a chance. I made sure to work my ass off to prove that I deserve to be there.
With so many other magazines out there, how do you approach S Magazine to make it stand out?
It gives me so much pleasure to be creating content that black people can easily relate to — especially in a world where we are starved of beautiful black content. Staying true to my blackness and what it means to me is how I keep everything I do for S Mag fresh. We need to celebrate each other and our narratives more.
What is style to you?
Sense of self. Knowing who you are will never go out of fashion. It’s timeless.



Khomotso photographed by Tshepiso Mabula
Tsepo Tsotetsi
The designer
Tsepo Tsotetsi is at the helm of eponymous contemporary men’s and womenswear brand Tsepo Tsotetsi. Born in Kimberly, in the Northern Cape, and trained in fashion design at the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein, Tsepo creates looks that draw on a number of key elements for inspiration. “I use my surroundings and experiences to communicate a strong and honest African and potentially global outlook.”
I use fashion to communicate what I am feeling. Fashion is a place where I can bend and change or keep things the same. I like taking concepts apart and refocusing them.
What are some of your current inspirations and how do they translate into your clothes?
I’m always inspired by structure and deconstruction. Right now I’m interested in cement — the texture, the colour, the weight and what can be made from it. I am interested to recreate the look and feel of cement. My Spring/Summer 2017 collection shown at South African Menswear Week called Listening, was inspired by architecture and was very structural and linear.
How does the current state of fashion in South Africa influence you as a young designer?
We’re still a developing industry so there’s a lot of room to play in terms of my design process and the structure of my brand. In the same breath, I do think there are difficulties regarding resource constraints; so the state of fashion in South Africa can also be discouraging. I guess it’s the same all over the world.
Orli Oh Meiri
The makeup artist
Since starting out in the industry four years ago, Orli Oh Meiri has mined her own individual style, crafting painterly, avant-garde beauty looks that experiment with everything from spider-esque lashes to face sequins.
I don’t see my work as one that reflects the beauty industry. If anything, I hope that what I do defies it. The beauty industry sets out to sell products by making women feel bad about themselves and setting unachievable standards cast by men. Makeup should be used to achieve an ideal self whatever that might be.
What do you love most about makeup?
Applying makeup is an intimate process. The person that you work on needs to feel comfortable enough to let you so close to their face. When the chemistry is right, it allows me to get to know a person beyond their facade. I love that makeup when used correctly is a tool to enhance what we already have. We can also use it to transform ourselves into something completely different.
How would you describe you signature look?
I love being able to push boundaries and I see makeup as a form of art rather than beauty. I try to keep my work original.
The industry’s perception of makeup. It’s usually the last thing people think of. It’s importance is not as obvious as the photographer’s or wardrobe stylist’s role. We are the bass players in the band.
What has been the highlight of your career?
Helping people believe that they are beautiful. Changing people’s perception of makeup and themselves.
Elle Rose van der Burg
The Model






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