The South African Street Culture.

South Africa is one of many countries in the world that is diverse and has a wide variety of cultures, languages and religions and this reflects on the street fashion and the street culture as a whole. We have different types of fashion senses in the streets of South Africa, Johannesburg to be exact. Johannesburg is the largest and busiest city and I believe that it’s also the capital of street fashion in South Africa. I would describe the South African street fashion as a working progress. We are evolving and people are starting to embrace their cultures and heritage, Sho Madjozi, Siyabonga “scoop” Ngwekazi and Dj Doowap are good examples.

The street fashion in South Africa is also becoming authentic and growing. We now have alot of young people who are cultured and who are becoming creatives, influencers and they’re also collaborating with big brands such as Converse, Dickies and Adidas, with that said it shows that the new generation is contributing alot into improving and diversifying the street culture. I went to the vibrant streets of Bramfontein to observe the street fashion and I found out that people are no longer conforming to what the media labels as fashion. People are expressing their emotions through their clothing and it’s a beautiful thing to witness.

I asked three people who are knowledgeable about the street fashion in South Africa cause I wanted to hear their perspectives and this is what they had to say:

Q – How can you describe the South African street fashion?

Themba Mashele.

“personally I feel like it’s growing compared to the rest of african countries because kids are coming up with new ideas when it comes to designing and creating.”

Lulama Makholwa.

“slowly but surely, some people are getting back their roots even though some people are still focusing on the western culture.”

Linda Wela.

“we are in interesting times honestly, the fact that our people are getting recognized by international ouks is great but at the same time I also feel like we still lacking a few things, most importantly knowledge. I can say we getting there no doubt. The streets are popping.”

This is my take on the street fashion in South Africa. I wanted to highlight that it’s diverse, growing and that the youth of this era are doing the most.