DDM inspiration

As a designer we are taught that creativity and inspiration are not something you wait for but rather something you must actively seek with each moment of your existence. I am inspired by many different aspects of life and existence but I have four main points of reference that I have touched upon in the article which inspire my sense of style and contribute to the styling of DDM photo shoots and designs, these points include the following:

 

1.   GLOBALISATION: The one world community and how different people are sharing ideas, styles, fabrics, traditions and thoughts.

2.   BRENDA FASSIE (THE MADONNA OF THE TOWNSHIPS):  This has to do with township living as a sub-culture birthed during the apartheid era. This sub-culture has a fashion and music that is unique to it. Brenda I feel embodies the out-spoken township woman who’s in touch with her sexuality and desires to grow beyond the invisible fences around the townships (DDM as a woman’s wear label).

3.   THE BOOM SHAKA ERA AND RASTAFARI MOVEMENT: these two have one aspect that ties them together in my mind =the extravagant and exaggerated head wraps, on a deeper level though Boom Shaka to me will always symbolise the expression of SAs freedom and the excitement of the young people in the 90s when freedom was a new concept to South Africans of all races. The Rastafarian movement on the other hand was a reaction against colonialism by Jamaican slaves who decided to go back to their roots by growing natural hair and developing a sub-culture which would help them feel more in touch with their ancestors or their blackness, it spread to other continents and is represented by long dreads and turbans which symbolise freedom and could be considered a sign of respect and discipline.

4.   ANCIENT TEXTS AND SYMBOLISM:

This has to do with the preservation of ancient ideas and methods of making fabrics, designing and traditional wear by fusing it with what people feel most comfortable in=casualwear . Just because we live in a more globalised world doesn’t mean we should let go completely of our ancestor’s symbols and messages they left for us, this applies to people of all tribes, races and nationalities. Somehow I think if people wear clothes that incorporate prints of symbols it could inspire young people to study the meanings of the symbols and learn more about human history lol I guess it’s my little contribution to the betterment of life, we all play our little parts and together collectively we make change. DDM is about mixing the old with the new