Africa Influences my Fashion Style

by Cyril Skosana
(Pretoria, South Africa)

Most of us can relate to the statement “Africa influences my fashion style”. Who wouldn’t be inspired by Africa? Its highs, its lows, its beauty, sadness, its landscape and its wildness. Indeed Africa is the home of inspiration for those who inhabit it and those who watch from the distance.

Zinhle Khumalo is no exception to the African inspirations. Having fashion being her middle name and being an envy of fashion lovers is not everyone’s cup of tea. Zinhle becomes the centre of attraction when it comes to fashion, new clothing codes and colour-blocking among her peers. She just comes across as a true artist and takes her dress style to be a reflection of herself.

She dresses as if to make a statement that she didn’t come all the way from Cloverden in Benoni to Pretoria not to be noticed. Whilst her primary aim remains pursuing studies in Journalism at Tshwane University of Technology, Zinhle Zama “Hazelbird” Khumalo (20) is more memorable for her fashion sense to the fellow students in the Soshanguve campus. She is known for her matchless way of dressing, unique in a timeless way, while on the other hand she receives a cold shoulder from other students. “Perhaps it is the way I dress, I know it is unique but it does not mean I am crazy, it is my preferred way of dressing,” said Hazelbird.

She says her style is influenced by Africa and a bit of American trends, “Africa is my continent, when I dress, I add an African touch then polish it with a bit of an American influence,” she laughed as she added, “some people think that I am bootlegging Rihanna’s style, but I do not, what I am doing is that I combine my own flavour with Rihanna’s, that I cannot deny, I am her biggest fan.”

Zinhle says that fashion is art and a way of putting a message across, “my way of dressing tells a story, emotions and feelings, I use clothes to communicate with people and I think they are finding it hard to comprehend. For some reason they do not look at the intended message but rush to judge the way I dress.”

According to her, she got her fashion sense from books and magazines earlier on in her life. She says growing up with her grandmother brought her to this unique style, this kind of a fashion style, “my grandmother never allowed me to go play outside with other kids when I was young, I ended up being an indoor person, I then started reading a lot of fashion magazines. That is where my worship for clothes became evident,” she also added that window shopping also compliments her love for reading fashion magazines to keep her informed of local and international fashion trends.

She despondently stressed that she is afraid that the worst thing that could happen to alter her way of dressing is the career that she guns for. Although she is studying towards a degree in journalism (in her second year), Zinhle would like to pursue a career in corporate communications some day. When not studying, shopping, reading about fashion, Zinhle keeps busy with her fashion blog (www.fash-polit.blogspot.com) where she writes about the fashion world and gives updates about what is in and what is out.