Words Chipo Mapondera Pictured Lisa Jaffe collection at Joburg Art Fair Photography Brendan Copestake
South African designer Lisa Jaffe launched her first stand-alone store on Johannesburg’s 44 Stanley Avenue last month, and ARISE was lucky enough to be there to cast our eye over the latest offerings from her label, Guillotine.
Jaffe’s current collection, First Cut: Paper Scissors Block Print, is a follow up to Monotype, which looked at the process of constructing a garment.
The new collection sees Jaffe collaborate with artist Mary Wafer, musician João Orecchia and printmaker Jillian Ross of David Krut Print Workshop.
Wafer created a four-piece woodcut for the project, which was then transferred and hand-printed onto fabrics by Ross, while Orecchia’s recordings of the carving process provided the soundtrack to a presentation of the collection at the FNB Joburg Art Fair.
The collection draws on a mix of colours, cuts and materials (including mesh, silk and suede) to construct each outfit. “I am interested in how clothing divides the body into sections through gathering, ruching, concealing and revealing," says Jaffe. "It becomes like layering the body with a second skin that is natural and light on the body."
The changing room is the focal point of the store, which was designed by Jaffe’s partner Eugene Marais. Lit in pink light, it ensconces the shopper in an intimate and comforting capsule.
The store will also be a hub to present Jaffe’s future projects, including a collaboration with the University of Witwatersrand Digital Arts MA students, in which mechanised clothing will be operated by customer interaction via smart phones and social media.
"As a creator I owe it to the public to give added value to the consumer process. By including them in the creative process and giving them new ways to interact with the product, each piece has more meaning and an added layer,” explains Jaffe.
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