Thandiwe Helen Pilat

“Resene Blackberry immediately evoked memories from my childhood when me, my sisters and cousins would spend our summer holidays foraging for blackberries on my grandfather’s farm and with this in mind I wanted to pay homage and celebrate my African culture and heritage. I am celebrating strong and beautiful women.

I want to celebrate the diversity of the African continent, which is so rich and full of life in the use of patterned fabrics, colours and design and this is what I think of with Resene in their paint collections, wallpapers and home furnishings. I experimented with some fabric manipulation techniques and was drawn towards using the furrowing technique on the bodice of my dress – creating a dramatic pattern but also referencing the blackberry. I will also use fine pleating on the wait to highlight the curvature of the female silhouette. These fabric manipulation techniques are a juxtaposition with the patterned fabrics, colours and designs of Africa.

We have a lot of contemporary upcoming and present designers who are fusing our African traditions with western fashion, and I am privileged to be living in the golden era of contemporary fashion design. Therefore I wanted to create a piece which gives a nod to me ‘African Queen’, she is strong, independent and beautiful. Yet she is soft, feminine and alluring.”

Resene Whitecliffe Colour of Fashion clothing - 2023

Photography by Jonathan Kraettli

Find out more   Return to gallery