A truce between genius and madness

Last night was the Elle New Talent Show, the kick off of South African Fashion week. Congratulations to Cleo Droomer for his exciting collection of surprises and enticement. The theme for this year's competition was "Optimism." The judges had to explain the way in which they were looking for optimism within the contestants work. Dion Chang's description of optimism as the "truce between genius and madness" pretty much hit the nail on the head.

The event was made all the more awesome for it's venue: SA Fashion Week is now held at Arts On Main which makes so much sense when you see fashionistas browse around the galleries and stores between shows. It looks like the halo effect is at play with the creative endeavors in that little pocket of downtown Jo'burg. A special thanks to my ever so stylish sister for the ticket (and the gift tote that says "I will be blogging about the later") - she worked damn hard on this event and it really paid of!

Cleo's collection

 Swirls and stripes

 The ever-glam Jackie Burger, editor of Elle SA

 Cleo's victory lap

 Appropriate stairs

 Adorable

 Cleo's collection

 Entrance to fashion

Champagne and macaroons

Last night I attended the Elle New Talent Awards kick-off party at the Gallery of 12 Decades Art Hotel in Main Street Life. It was a fabulous evening with fabulous people and even more fabulous shoes. It is also great to see such innovative young talent of the South African fashion scene (read about them here). I can't wait to see the shows tonight!

Spring inspiration

Ooh I love Built By Wendy's new spring collection....

Over the mountains and far away

The husband and I went to the Drakensberg for a weekend at the beginning of the month. Which now is a while ago (oh my how time flies) but I would rather be browsing through pics of the great outdoors than working on this fine summer's eve.

We stayed at the old fashioned Cathedral Peak Hotel, tucked away in the mountains and close to nothing at all. On the Saturday we decided to climb to the top of Cathedral Peak. The husband had accomplished this a couple of times before but I am somewhat of a hiking novice. His warnings of the difficulty of this task fell on deaf ears. I was stubbornly remaining in the "it will be a great thing to do together-," "a metaphor for marriage-," "I can do anything I put my mind to-," "we may as well make the most of being in the mountains-" camp. So off we set at 7am with one tracker, one Norwegian, and one Brit in tow. Ten hours later we arrived back. Yes, 10 hours. There and back. And I didn't even make it quite to the tip (when ropes got involved my nerves did too). My body has probably only just recovered. I have to say, although I may not do it ever again, it was quite an experience!

Rainbow bright

Loving the colours at the Prada show, Milano for Spring/Summer 2011.

{Via The Satorialist}

In the name of National Braai Day

Today is a public holiday in South Africa fondly referred to National Braai Day, quite apt since it's Heritage Day. I am not partaking in any braai today (the husband is on golf tour so I am catching up on more girly things), here are pics of a chicken we made on the Weber a couple of weekends ago. It was delicious but there isn't really a recipe I can share: just lots of butter and lemon on the chicken, fresh veggies, and crispy roast potatoes.

Happy weekend!

Skirt crush

{via AnOther}

Balenciaga dress worn by Anna Dello Russo

Wednesday night

What a crazy three days. On the go non-stop, working like mad to finish up a project. All done. For now. At the Jomo Kenyatta airport waiting for my flight home. It will be nice to throw my arms around the husband. And sleep.

{Via Le Love}

Monday morning

I have just arrived in Nairobi after a midnight flight, blurry eyed we drove to from the airport to town just as dawn arrived. It's such a magical time of the day in a city: that inhalation before the madness of the day. I came across this pic of a Samburu wedding from National Geographic while I was doing some research for the Kenya project and love how it captures the energy better than a video ever could.

It sounds obvious but check out National Geographic Photography for great visual inspiration. I could spend hours on their site. And I love their byline: "Inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888."

Have a FUN weekend!

{Source: The Cool Hunter}

Cool as fire

I loved these hot pink matches but the Hermes version takes the cake!

{Source: AnOther}

Play things

{Source: AnOther}

I want a pony bike: "Horsey" by Eungi Kim

{Source: AnOther}

Tim Walker Pastel Cats

Another room I like

{Source: Design Dig}

The dark floors. That ottoman. All the light...

Street art

{Source: The Cool Hunter}

Behind the scenes

Good Monday to you all! On Saturday I helped my fashionista sister with a shoot that will feature in Elle Magazine's November issue. The theme was an urban summer in Johannesburg: why have a picnic in a leafy park when we have gorgeous rooftops with even better views. Thanks to all the girls that helped out and be sure to check it out in November.

Here are a few snaps from behind the scenes: