SA Fashion Week Designer Capsule Collection now in-store

The SA Fashion Week Designer Capsule Collection offers Edgars' customers the choice to buy local designer labels, while providing designers with the floor-space and shop-in-shop infrastructure, as well as unparalleled access to the high street shopper, back-end processes, merchandising and marketing. The designers are personally responsible for selecting the designs that they sell and managing their areas in the store.

The SA Fashion Week Designer Capsule Collection will be available at Edgars' flagship store in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg for an initial period of six months.

Black Coffee, Clive Rundle, Cloche, Colleen Eitzen, Lunar and Two are the permanent designers that comprise the core of the capsule. More designers will be added to the mix on a monthly basis, rotating in groups of three. Premium beauty brands will be available close by, adding to the designer ambiance. Calvin Klein, Gucci and Tom Ford are among the names coming soon.

Edgars commissioned Nicholas de Klerk to define the designer shopping experience in-store. Inspired by classic workroom images, where rolls of fabric line the walls, De Klerk's design includes cardboard tubes as space dividers, rails and shelves held in place by chunky metal bolts. While the industrial colour palette of brown, grey and white is calming and cool, SA Fashion Week imagery and music provide buzz and colour, providing a canvas that is simple yet striking.

The Designer Capsule Collection is a turning point in the history of SA Fashion Week, being the first time that a fashion week anywhere in the world has launched a commercial line for its designer base. As a rule, fashion weeks are the preserve of buyers and media, often leaving fashion-loving members of the public out in the cold. The Collection is designed to break down these barriers, increasing access to designer fashion, while enhancing brands and building businesses.

Edgars' Executive Manager of Trends and Design, Sandra Rogers, said, "By leveraging our two iconic brands, namely Edgars and SA Fashion Week, we're breaking new ground and leading the way for fashion weeks globally. This is a huge opportunity for everyone involved, particularly the designers who we know are going to win the hearts and minds of our loyal customers!

"At the 'Made in Africa' show at New York Fashion Week, one of the organisers said that African designers lacked investment and recognition. Through the SA Fashion Week Designer Capsule Collection, Edgars is investing in top talent and providing them with a platform to garner the recognition they so richly deserve."