It is in the shadow of the old Oak trees in the heart of the
historical village of Stellenbosch where I find myself in conversation
with the talented Danielle Margaux, a South African Fashion Designer
of note. She strikes me as a remarkably promising and versatile designer,
especially having regard to the fact that she served many of our other local
designers who have achieved significant fame and success. With a brief
stint (just over 4 years) at designers like Kluk CGDT, Errol Arendz
and Rosenwerth, she no doubt gained extensive exposure in various styles and
pattern making, and with a particular interest in pattern design and making,
she mastered the art of creating form flowing designs that indeed fit your body
like a glove, cut and designed to your body type and measurements. She aspires
to create garments that fit perfectly, and will soon release an online range
with this object in mind. Her designs are distinctly different from any other
designer and when asked about her particular style, I was told that it was both
timeless, classic and with the client's personality in mind.
Her crisp, classic White shirts are an absolute essential
ingredient for the capsule wardrobe, and having seen her previous two
collections at Fashion Week, I understand why a White shirt from her label
would become the quintessential capsule item. It is the harem pants worn with
her classic big bow White shirt that caught my initial attention, the very
White shirt which left me smitten with her timeless style and led me straight
to Montegrey House at 6 Bird Street, Stellenbosch where she consults her clients to form an idea about your personality before she
embarks on her talented mission of designing the perfect fit. Her policy on
sustainable fashion resonates very well with clients, as she strives to
maintain good staff relationships, having happy and well cared for employees
whose welfare always remains on the forefront, thus contributing towards
empowering women and creating local employment.
Although she initially pursued studies in the medical field, she chose another direction and only
embarked into a career sporting her own label after having done numerous other
related jobs, including styling models on fashion shoots. She has a fondness
for natural fabrics, in particular the tactile feel of Silks, which she no
doubt has a great flair for. It is with glee that I slip into my gorgeous
Red Silk gown that was skilfully designed and fitted to my measurements,
draping to the floor and gently gliding over my voluptuous figure with great
elegance.
Being a designer with a penchant for classic style, she hardly
ever works in printed fabric, in keeping with the concept of timeless style.
She mentioned that she often indulged in the pages of glossy European fashion
magazines as a child, only to discover that the gorgeous frocks were in real
existence when she found herself working at Selfridges in London, where she
spent lunch hours glancing through high end designs like a bookworm would scale
a library.
It is the Protea flower that inspired the colour scheme of her
next collection which will be shown during Cape Town Fashion Week next week,
which she subtly revealed will show a little more vibrancy (using line
as detail and black as a contrast).She's an ambitious women, and having
already established herself in the industry as a designer of note, she will no
doubt succeed in achieving her next goal by launching an online range in the
next year, and if all goes well, turning the label into a brand of
distinction…..
She exudes enthusiasm and waxes lyrical about fine fabric,
and with her exceptional talent to produce a garment which fits
perfectly, no doubt the next collection will take the runway by storm during
Fashion Week in Cape Town next week.
Her showstopper is appropriately named That's It, and
the collection can be seen at 16h00 on Saturday the 1st August 2015 at the
Watershed, V & A Waterfront, Cape Town. Rush to web tickets if you want to
get a glimpse of what this phenomenal designer has created for the next Spring
Summer season.
