HAPPY SPRING DAY! Celebrate with the OhONEONE Spring Sale!

Happy 1st of September! In honour of Spring Day and in conjunction with Styling Concepts and OhOneOne, we're giving you 25% off on ALL Autumn/Winter 2014 items. Use the promo code SPRINGFLING at checkout to gain your discount.

Visit  ohoneone.myshopify.com and SAVE!!!

SKIP EXCHANGE - Katy's Palace - Sandton - Johannesburg

Every now and then something incredibly mind-boggling happens.  A group of women (more tellingly "fashion-forward" women) gets together to have a nibble and a drink before Bonang Matheba whips them into a frenzy and lets them loose in a room full of designer clothes.  This ritual has subsequently been given a name - The Skip Fashion Exchange.

The premise is simple.  Bring an item or two of good quality (read "label") clothing, and exchange it for other gorgeous clothing of similar quality. Reliable sources have previously indicated to us that some really good pieces are often up for grabs.  Alan and Krishen just had to be at the latest of these events to witness it for themselves.  Once the dinner (and a stunning performance by MiCasa) was over, the fashion gates were opened.  Remember that scene in Jurassic Park when the pack of velociraptors went in for the kill?  Well, it looked a bit like that.

Hopefully the rumour that menswear will be included in the next Skip Exchange will come to pass - (hint hint!)

When Alan and Krishen arrived things were still relatively sedate

While our host, Fareed Mohammed, explained the procedure to us,
Anne Dolinschek was impatient for the clothing exchange to
commence

The online fashionistas were out in full force - (from left) Leanne Van Breda,
Irina Doman and Thithi Nteta

We loved meeting Vimshana Rajbansi (left) who told of the initial
resistance her traditionalist family had towards her gorgeous hairstyle
while meeting lifestyle blogging guru Wisaal Anderson was a real treat

We loved seeing splashes of this season's hot colours - yellow and green.
More about Irina Doman's dress (on the right) a little later ...

Irina's blog is entitled "I'll Take It All" - advice Anne
Dolinschek seemed intent on taking seriously

And here it is again - Irina Doman's green tropical dress making
another appearance, this time courtesy of Espresso's Alexis Chaffe

Alan and Krishen - always ready for another TV interview

Alan "up close and personal" with two excited well-wishers

It's always a pleasure bumping into Melody Molale
and Vuyo Varoy

Melody showed everyone that the old way of taking a selfie (above)
is horribly outdated.  If only Ellen Degeneres had Melody's
"selfie-stick" she may have managed to get the whole Oscar
audience in that famous selfie.

GM & AHRENS BUBBLY BRUNCH - Weylandts, Brooklyn Mall, Pretoria

On our list of upcoming events, we will be attending a Bubbly Brunch this Sunday...

Alan and Krishen love the finer things in life. That's why they are looking forward to the GM & Ahrens Bubbly Day being held at Weylandts, Brooklyn Design Square this coming Sunday. Thanks to Zebra Square for hosting the event.

The House of GM & Ahrens is a boutique bubbly house situated in Franschoek. 

It was started by partners Gerrit Maritz and Albert Ahrens 

who have passionately pursued the production of the perfect bubbly. 

Their first vintage curvee was released on the 1st September 2011 in a gigantic hot air balloon 

in true French style..

We are looking forward to attending the Bubbly Brunch on Sunday, 31st August.

One of the highlights will also be the haute gourmet menu 

designed by Michelin chef Leanne Roberts...

Alan and Krishen will be there on Sunday to sample some of the superb bubbly on offer

EXCLUSIVE BOOK RELAUNCH - Rosebank Mall - Johannesburg

"Paperback Is The New Black"

It seems that reading, the organic sort that is – with a real book that you can touch and feel, is back in fashion. In recent years, Kindles and iPads have dominated the market: downloading a book has never been as easy. However, with the move towards technological reading there has been a counter-move back towards paperback reading. Real books have actually become fashionable. This was perfectly expressed by the new Exclusive Books store, which opened in Rosebank recently. Rosebank’s re-invention has seen many new stores opening as well as facelifts for some well-known stores that have been a staple of the centre for years. The new Exclusive Books store is awe-inspiring to say the least: at a time when it would seem that digital reading is the way to go, they’ve broken the mould and created a mega bookstore full of enticing reads. It felt like walking into a massive library as opposed to a bookstore when we arrived at the launch. 

Media stalwarts Jenny Crwys-Williams and Ruda Landman
added gravitas to the store opening.

The perfect combination : music, food and a good read.

There were books soaring up to the ceiling, wall to wall displays of fantastic reads ranging in size from small to massive: this is how a bookstore should look. Exclusive Books has always been at the cutting-edge of innovative store design and making reading accessible as well as fashionable for the consumer. This store is no exception. What would a good read be without a good cup of coffee? Exclusive Café is a tantalizing new coffee experience…

‘At Exclusive Café, we serve coffee artfully roasted for us by Legado Coffee, based near Stellenbosch. We have partnered with Legado Coffee as our purveyors because they share our obsession with perfection. We are serving our coffee in the contemporary style increasingly known as the third wave of coffee, which may be unfamiliar to many of our customers at first. The third wave celebrates coffee as an artisanal drink with the complexity of wine, rather than treating it as a mundane necessity.’

We love the word ‘artisanal’: it represents high levels of quality as well as all things bespoke. Just like well-crafted books and great coffee. These qualities are all the things Alan loves whereas Krishen is from the iPad generation tending to prefer digital convenience. Nonetheless, both of us can certainly appreciate a magnificent read – we’ll definitely be frequenting the new Exclusive Books Rosebank store! Especially now that paperback is the new black… 

AKEDO ONLINE LAUNCH - Alexander Theatre - Johannesburg

We love supporting fashion that is starting to find its feet; young, new creative talent is always something to be celebrated. Especially when the new talent launches an online store which allows consumers to more readily find and purchase their products. Even on a busy night, we had to make time to pop into the Akedo Online launch. The displays were visually striking and incredibly cutting-edge. We simply loved how it all went down, it felt like being in a very arty Berlin basement. All in all, das ist echt geil!

Some of the awesome brands represented at the launch -
many of our hottest young designers

Arriving in a burst of colour: we certainly stood out amidst the subdued hues
(as we do!)

Catching up with Zakeeya Patel,
fresh off the stage from 'Emotional Creature' in Cape Town
We tried to hide our jealousy but couldn't really -
not after Zak had met Charlize Theron, Sean Penn
and Robert Redford at one of the performances!

Artworks by Skullboy formed part of the flashing visuals which added to the slickness of the event

A favourite of ours and fellow fashion-lover, Kelly Fung of Marie Claire

 We loved the achromatic ease seen in most looks on the night
 from left, Lauren Du Plessis of Avant Apparel
Sheena Bagshawe from Elle
and Julia Lerato 

Tshegofatso Moremi and Khumo Lebeloe were also rocking White & Black shades
we loved Khumo's pants, Oath by Rich Mnisi

Nqobile Opholile created a pleasing silhouette with a very high-waisted skirt;
her awesome necklace added some glamour

Fashionable looks were also seen on these trendy guys
Filipe De Carvalho (left) was sporting a magnificent Augustine jacket
- 'Bespoke' is the word!

Together, we injected some colour into the evening.
Seen here with Dale Stephen Strime in one of his signature looks

This picture summed up the event perfectly: art meets fashion meets installation,
all executed perfectly.

www.akedo.co.za
www.skullboy.co.za

SPITZ SUMMER GALLERY LAUNCH - Craighall Park - Johannesburg

Alan And Krishen attended the recent Spitz Summer Gallery launch hosted by Styling Concepts.  It was a combination of fashion and art in a setting that could very easily have been a trendy New York gallery.   Well known Spitz brands such as Carvella, Lacoste, Gant and Kurt Geiger were incorporated into fun displays. The consensus among invited guests seemed to be a big thumbs-up for the novel idea of displaying shoes as Pop Art items - Warhol himself would surely have approved.

We chose shades of blue for our outfits - once again our matching colour palette was quite
unplanned and coincidental. Krishen in Zadig & Voltaire, Alan in Zara.

The Carvella "Wall Of Shoes" was particularly impressive.  Alan was wearing
his black patent leather Carvellas and was tempted to add them to the display
while Krishen wanted to try on a pair or two "insitu"

We always bump into familiar faces no matter where we go.  We hadn't seen
Marie Claire's Kelly Fung (top) for some time nor Leigh Crymble
(centre, with Stevie French).
We were so excited to finally meet stylist Thithi Nteta (bottom) whose work we
have always admired.

Patterned black and white was a firm favourite.  We loved the use of bold
prints offset by either plain black or plain white.

Considering the event was largely focussed on shoes we made a point of checking
what footwear was in attendance. Mi'chal Naidoo impressed us
with her gorgeous colourful platforms.

We hadn't seen Sarah Heaton since the Vuzu TV insert we all participated in
a few months ago, so a catch-up session was very necessary.

And then there was cake!  Every one of them in whites and creams.
It didn't take much for Alan to convince Krishen to
sample the macaroons.

Roxy Burger was out to impress in one of her own "ohoneone" outfits.
We loved the graffiti motif on her dress - again showing the general preference for
black and white.

We had to congratulate Jenny Andrew for devoting the entire
day to creating the "Wall Of Shoes" - each one individually nailed in place

Top Billing's Simba Mhere insisted on his picture being taken next to
one of the "live installations".  Always on point - he too chose a shade of blue for his outfit.

We couldn't resist this group shot.  If black and white was the general clothing theme then
red was definitely the prevailing hair colour!

Wardah Hartley thought about donning a pair of Lacoste sneakers but
decided to stick to her gorgeous pink Manolo Blahnik's instead

Best Dressed Man
We loved Mahlatse James' choice.  A melting pot of textures
all in black and white - right down to his two tone shoes.
A big thumbs up!

Best Dressed Woman
Nicola Cooper in a stunning Suzaan Heyns dress.
We loved the asymmetrical design in a fabulous hue of
brown to offset Nicola's new hair colour.

If it wasn't for Kashif Samodien smiling - we could have captioned
this one - #YouCantSitWithUs

NICCI BOUTIQUE SUMMER 2014 LAUNCH - Hyde Park Corner - Johannesburg

Spring is just around the corner and we were invited to Nicci Boutique's Summer Launch 2014 to see the lovely bursts of colour and pattern from their new collection. We were treated to a visual feast, not to mention a sugar rush after devouring some colourful candies!

Krishen decided to match pastel green with white and black to create a fresh look.
Alan was sporting his traditional bow tie - stripes and spots were paired;
it's all about mixing patterns at the moment. 

Breakfast is served... A great way to kick off the morning!

Fresh colours, eye-catching metallics and florals (even on feet!)
 dominated the collection

Bumping into some of our favourites, with Jen Su (above)
Julia Mafcher, Anne Dolinshek and the owner of Nicci, Niki Breger (below)

Seen here with fellow bloggers: A Girl in Africa, Diana Hoyos (left)
and Mi'chal Naidoo from the Sweet Serendipity blog (right)

We loved these tropical Holmes Brothers pants on Stevie French:
proudly South African (bru)

Joanna Chen of AnniKing looked magnificent in this monochromatic look
- with a great pop of colour in the form of turquoise shoes

Jay Anstey chose a simple black look which looked incredibly stylish

Great discussion about the joys of travelling for fashion (near or far)
with singer Louise Carver and Melinda Shaw of Shaw Media 

Joking with Nicola Copper about the source of Christina's Aguilera's 'vibrato' singing style
(you had to be there!)
Then some quips with Nicola and Mahlatse James planning their 'wedding'
- both would choose to wear Vivienne Westwood... of course

The ever-stylish Zuraida Jardine looked fabulous in black and gold.
She admitted that her stunning Jimmy Choos were somewhat uncomfortable:
the price one pays to look this good

Socialising with stylish ladies: Wardah Hartley and Zuraida Jardine

We loved Wardah Hartley's effortless look: silk shirt with repeating pattern,
watermelon pencil skirt and lovely taupe heels.
Finished off with a Michael Kors handbag from a store just around the corner.
Wardah chose the bag according to her taste; dare we say, expensive