Themba Mngomezulu, the designer behind the label 'Darkie.'
Photos from Darkie's fashion shows. One from a recent Levi's Show (first left) and the other three from South African Fashion Week, 2004/05.South African fashion is so overlooked it borders on ridiculous. Fear not, while surfing the net I found an essential web site for those who are interested in keeping up-to-date with urban culture, lifestyle and general news in Joannesburg, Cape Town and other cities. There may be better sites out there but I quite like this one called Rage. While on the site I read about an emerging fashion guru called Themba Mngomezulu who designs for "Darkie," the label he founded in 2002. Themba credits his mother for his initial interest in fashion. She would trade second hand clothing from their garage and he still buys items from her to this day. With fashion in his veins, Themba moved to Cape Town in 2004 to fully realize his dream and with the help of his new partner, Azaad Carrim, Themba now runs a design house with 25 employees. He says of his design aesthetic:
‘We’re a fast-forward brand. We like to design both locally and globally. We’re a South African design team and we’re creating our Darkie style. We try not to focus solely on the international influences because they don’t understand our style. South Africa has an amazing 11 different cultures and that inspires us every day.’
Darkie is primarily a sportswear/lifestyle label. Many of their t-shirts feature cultural icons such as Muhammad Ali, Ray Charles and Nelson Mandela and their favortie material of choice seems to be denim. You can read more about Themba here. I’ve yet to find a web site but I’ll keep you posted ;)
i'm so thankful you did this post! I heart South Africa. I spent 10 days there in 2005. They exposed me to man-capris!! I love their fashion...
ReplyDeletemuch love to south africa for the fashion inspiration
ReplyDeletebut
im not wearing any brand called "darkie".
try again.
^^Apparently their name has been quite controversial in SA, but it doesn't bother at all. Why does the term 'Darkie' have to have negative connotations?
ReplyDeleteIt's all about context. It's hard to reclaim negative language when it's still widely in (negative) use. Not impossible, but hard.
ReplyDeleteHis clothes are really fun, though.
I see your point but I think that was his goal... to take the word and associate it with something positive and worthwhile :)
ReplyDeletethese clothes are great !! the word " darkie is just a word " it really has no power, if u do not let it .
ReplyDeleteslyvia have u written a post on femi oke , if u have can u link me to it . I thinks she has a great sense of style.
No not yet! Off to check her out now! Thanks for the heads-up ;)
ReplyDeleteNo matter what, to most african americans, especially dark skinned african americans and racists whites, "darkie" is a negative word. There is a toothpaste in Japan called Darkie with the image of a black minstrel on the box that was depicted during Jim Crow and from what I heard, there was an uproar.
ReplyDeleteSo no...dude has got to change that name to "Noire" or something else before he brings it here to the US.
That is all.
Oh yeah, Sylvia, your girl RACHAEL ROY was on Oprah last Friday. She is a beuatiful smart girl and I can't believe she is with that Damon Dash from Roca Fellas. She is too classy too be with him. Her clothers are so equisite and classy and definitely has her signature look like that trench coat dress.
ReplyDeleteMost of Rachel's line is designed by a team that doesn't include her. She gives input into the final line but there are a lot of other people in place that make that collection happen. She is pretty and has style...and a personal stylist but you didn't hear that from me :)
ReplyDeletei know the darkie toothpaste it is in china as well , and nobody had a uproar . Most asians do not like dark, that is why most of their stores are stocked with lightening cream ... To all who feel darkie is bad you have to turn the negative into a positive . if you believe that black or dark is bad than it will be for you .. You have to heal and find the power!!!!
ReplyDeleteto the other anon ,re rachel roy i thought she had stylists , assistants with assistants... It is amazing what these companies spend . Her office alone must be at least 6000- 10000 per month... Good for her on oprah , i will see if i can find on utube.
anyway have a wonderful day all!
hey lady nice post! yes a lot is going on in Africa in terms of design that is why I built my blog around African fashion! check e out sometime
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but in my humble opinion, just saying "turn the neg. into pos." schtik is just that. Language is way too powerful to ignore that those words have very hurtful, very negative connotations. We tried that with the "n-word"...did that work well?
ReplyDeleteI see your point Sylvia, that his goal was to turn the negative into a positive, but that was the same goal of Niggaspace...it doesn't seem to be working. Turning the negative into positive is about teaching tolerance, and getting people to realize that there are times when you should develop thick skin to words, and then there are time when you just shouldn't use it (e.g. Grey's Anatomy). I guess maybe Darkie just falls into that gray zone.
Either way, it's about his talent. And he seems really talented. He'd have a following, from those who appreciate his aesthetic, and those who want to buck the trend with the name of his label. I had never heard of him or his label, but now I'm intrigued. Thanks again Sylvia, for doing a great job of hipping me to new designers!
I'm so mad because I missed Rachel Roy on Oprah :( I assumed that she had a team working for her but do they do a majority of the work?
ReplyDeleteAshley I'm from the U.K. so the term isn't as offensive to me as say it would be to an American or S.African.
Naijagal I'm off to view your blog now :)
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI'm a south African living in Johannesburg, and it was such a pleasant suprise to see you feature Darkie on your blog! South African designers and the South African fashion industry have really stepped up their game in the past few years, and its great to see our designers getting recognition. Funny enough, back here the name 'Darkie' has not really caused much uproar.There is a very strong 'black is beautiful' and 'black pride' sentiment in our country at the moment, and as some of the previous comments read, the name was adopted with the very intention turning a negative term into something positive that reflects our history and how we have overcome those adversities.
Love your blog Sylvia! And by the way, www.rage.co.za is one of the best sites to visit in order to learn more about South African urban lifestyle. Other designers making great strides include Sun Goddess, and Stone Cherrie. Check them out.
Cheers,
Gao, JHB
The Wayans brothers at one point tried to create a clothing line called Niggaz and people I knew had a fit! I just can't condone negative words that has and still affects a race of people that cause hurt and insecurities.
ReplyDeleteI once read an article where this black journalist went to somewhere in Africa, I forgot where, and he approach this little african store and the name of the store on the front was the word, "NIGGER"! he couldn't believe what he was reading. He approach the owners of the shop and asked them why they named their store, Nigger and the black african owner said becuz he got the word from the US and he took for word for something popular among blacks in the US. The journalist told the african that the word is still hurtful and maybe he should think about keeping the name. I don;t know the results, but that article was deep.
Sorry for writing a long post.
African designers---that's what's up!
ReplyDeletehi Y'all,
ReplyDeleteI'm an agent for Darkie in the Netherlands. Please check out www.landstore.nl and link this site on yours to promote South African Designers.
The latest collection is HOT, great tees, great designs! If you know serious interested stores, please let them contact us, from all around the world!
About someone who said to change the Name, no way, this is one of the strong things, you have to leave that up to Themba.
id wear it the name is not an issue at all for one it was created by black people so it cant even be compared to the N word. i think the designer was smart to call it that its captures your attention and it reflects the south african youth culture.
ReplyDeletehi,i read all the bad,the gud and the ugly about our brand.yes is called darkie and we are proud of being who we are.we were taught that everything that is dark or black is bad eg:i qoute:there is a black sheep among us,from a bibel,a white dove is for peace,this are just examples.we live in africa where we expirience all this sort of things.if you dont have style please dont blame it to the name.and thanx to those who support us.long live darkie
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