During our chat Orapeleng Modutle said the collection was inspired by “the queen of the forest”, Maleficent, I thought she was “Mistress of All Evil”. Nonetheless, this is not a piece on Disney characters and their character payoff lines. When it came to the choice of music Orapeleng Modutle said: “We wanted to have that whole fairytale, beautiful, fantasy with butterflies, (setting the tone to) really creating a beautiful forest.” The collection was driven by the need to show how women are leading the world perhaps triumphing all the societal ills much like Maleficent? The three parts collection’s story began by taking the woman from bridal and sectioning her into different parts to showcase that: a woman can be a mother, she goes on vacation, she parties, she cocktails, she is busy climbing the corporate ladder and more.
During the creative process of putting this collection together, Modutle said the keywords that sprung to mind were “drama, elegance and urban luxury”. The fabrication used in this 16 looks collection included chiffon, silk organza, tulle and French lace. When it came to a colour palette Modutle said: “I really wanted to move away from pastel colours because I have done that a lot, so I wanted to introduce something stronger” hence the use of scorching reds contrasted by watered-down pinks and whites. When I asked him if he has any intentions of offering a ready-to-wear (RTW) collection he said: “This was more or less our ready-to-wear” to which I responded “a very dramatic ready-to-wear!”. Modutle then clarified that his SS17 collection subtlety included pieces that are RTW such as the T-shirt, tailored suits, kimonos, onesies, pants and hats for people when they are going to the polo. Modutle enlisted Asanda Sizani who is a Johannesburg-based fashion stylist and beauty & fashion director of ELLE magazine South Africa.