COVETED FESTIVAL FASHION CONCEPT STORE POPS UP AT LITTLEGIG
Top couturiers like Valentino, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana are doffing a feathered, bejeweled cap to festival fashion, and for good reason. Tribal influences, fringing and embellishment have been hot on the style radar for some time now, propelled to a large degree by a new wave of festive events that push the boundaries of self-expression and creativity.
Littlegig is just such an event. It was founded in 2016 by former fashion magazine writer/editor, Georgia Black, and is the country’s only 24-hour, all-inclusive, curated festival. “Festival fashion is not about feather boas and glitter hats from Chinese stores,” she states. “It’s a major international trend.” Littlegig 2017 has a progressive line-up of highly curated experiences spanning international music, food tastings, art, design, and most importantly in this case, concept fashion.
Littlegig encourages the creative freedom that is the heritage of the carnival. This call is clearly taken up by Littlegig patrons, whose flamboyant and imaginative style is as much a festival attraction as the official programme itself. “Littlegig is a creativity-led festival and dressing up is at its heart,” explains Black. “It just happened organically.”
At the inaugural Littlegig festival in 2016, Black enhanced this element of the event by staging a festival fashion concept store. “When I had the idea for the first curated festival fashion store I had no idea it would work,” she says. “But it was mobbed from the moment we opened!”
Building on this success, Black has been curating a new collection for the 2017 festival fashion concept store for almost a year. She has worked with a number of key local designers and artisans like Crystal Birch, Atang Tshikare, Malcolm Kluk and Shirley Fintz to create one-off, hand-made pieces. In addition, she has sourced several vintage pieces and imported key bits from international costume and festival fashion designers like Sophie Cochevelou (France), Festival Universe (US), Black Milk (Australia), Beksies Boutique and Rosa Bloom (both UK). There’s a capsule menswear festival range, too, designed by respected local fashion designer, Craig Port.
The Littlegig festival fashion concept store is open on Saturday 28 January 2017 from 11h00 to 21h00 and Sunday 29 January 2017 from 9h00 to 11h00 (or until stock runs out). Payment is by cash or credit card.
