I can't imagine the pressure of doing your very first fashion week show by sharing a platform with the mighty Loin Cloth and Ashes. But that's exactly what Marize Malan from Morphe did at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Cape Town this weekend. Look, these two fabulous girl designers have been close ever since Anisa from LCA passed the mantle of ELLE new talent from herself to Marize a few years ago. Also, they share a store in Joburg and are each other's design support system, so it made complete sense.

What was more admirable and ballsy than this, was that Marize showed absolutely no signs of being intimidated, of compromising her vision to marry more with LCA, no signs of inadequacy or compromise. What I absolutely loved about this Morphe collection is that it was totally true to the brand DNA and demonstrated absolute consistency with what the brand stands for. Morphe is of course all about changing and transforming appearance and there were many witty nods to this ethos throughout the range - detachable clutch bags, spoof shirts tied around waists, shirt dresses. And this is great. Humour is so important to me. What I would caution is that Morphe need to ensure this doesn't become gimmicky moving forward. Aside from that I loved the show and look forward to tracking the progress next time I am in Joburg and pop into the Loin Cloth and Ashes store. Can't wait.
Morphe's show was supported by the Cape Town Fashion Council.
All photos courtesy of SDR Photo