Remember when people who should have known better plodded around in plastic clogs with holes, when Britney Spears’ relationship with Justin Timberlake hit the skids and the ultimate phone came in the form of a clam shell?
Well, Crocs have been back in a big, bedazzled way (groan!) for a couple of years, Britney faced another breakup (this time, her marriage to model and fitness trainer Sam Asghari has gone south) and foldable handsets are the new drip again.
In a move to get the in-crowd to embrace their folding phones, mobile company Samsung has created a pop-up called Galaxy Fliptown that not only showcases its new Galaxy Z Flip5 device but taps into the bubbling Y2K trend which is less about that millennium bug and more about early 2000 nostalgia.
Located at The Zone shopping centre in Rosebank, Joburg, the big reveal took place on Thursday evening and drew Mzansi’s cool kids, fashionistas and celebs.
One of the first to arrive wasn’t someone I’d expect to see in Y2K fashion — TV host Masechaba Khumalo, who tells me her association with the South Korean brand goes back to when she was on Morning Live 15 years ago.
Outside the store, guests at a food display tucked into a smorgasbord of nibbles like kimchi dumplings, miso tartines, Korean-style crispy chicken wings and — here’s an unusual but surprisingly tasty sensation — macaroon halves topped with slivers of salmon.
That’s where I caught up with oh-so-trendy illustrator Karabo Poppy, while I spotted rapper Khuli Chana and his DJ wife Lamiez Holworthy, foodie queen Mogau Seshoene (aka The Lazy Makoti) and striking personality K Naomi Phakathi among the crowd.
With the Y2K aesthetic heavily driven by fashion (think tinted shades, denim on denim, chunky footwear and lots of quirky accessories) it made sense for the mobile company to partner with the country’s most cutting edge designer.
Who else but Thebe Magugu to flip the fashion script? (Disclosure: I got tapped by experiential agency Mbongiworks to help manage this partnership, which will see the eponymous designer create two looks which remain virtual until they are revealed in thread and fabric a little later this year).
When the night’s proceedings start, we are all welcomed by Teboho “Caddy" Tsotetsi, the Y (formerly Yfm) DJ who seems to be very much in-demand as an MC these days.
Caddy welcomes Kgomotso Mosiane, the head of marketing for mobile experience at Samsung, who tells us all about the brand’s foldables — and has an onstage chat with Thebe, who sweetly came to the launch with his mom.
“I feel like, as creatives, we should not only be at the fore-front of design, but also be unafraid to take a chance and do something new,” said Thebe about the Fliptown collab.
You’ll want to know about the store, which is open to the public until August 30, and visually the place plays with the idea of an upside down world in a pop palette of mint and lilac where visitors can play, customise their foldables and add some Y2K glam to their nails and faces before strutting the fashion ramp.
I got a kick out of a novel selfie where I was “painted with light” by Shaun Oakley (aka Damn Vandal) and satisfied my sugar craving at the Y2K ice-cream doughnut station.
I also showed Gen Z’er Sió (Siobhan King), who turned up in a very Y2K hoodie sweater dress, just how easy it was to take a pic with the phone whether open or closed.
The social circuit was in full tilt on the evening — and while I couldn’t make it to the Coke Studio launch in Kramerville, I did manage to catch the tail end of the re-opening of Pick n Pay Clothing’s store in Sandton City which features a revamped design.
This event lifted the lid on another collab — this time between a 20-year old graphic designer Kiav Mitoo and fashion designer Thando Ntuli, 26, who designs under the Munkus moniker.
The two, who met for the first time on the night (Thando lives in Joburg while Kiav is based in Cape Town), said despite their geographical distance, their design process turned out to be quite seamless.
“Everything synced together,” explained Thando.
The capsule collection, channeled through the company’s Futurewear incubator programme steered by Gavin Rajah, comes alive through Kiav’s bold prints featuring lily motifs. “Lilies represents unity, family and femininity,” explained the young designer.
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