Gavin Rajah is standing over a fashion precipice. Behind him he has made a name for himself as one of South Africa's leading womenswear designers. He has dressed many local celebrities, appeared in Vogue and Harpers & Queen among many others, become a Goodwill Ambassador and now he's facing a whole new challenge altogether: Menswear.
Over the last few months small drops of campaign images landed in front of me. Rajah has done menswear before but never a full collection. Will it be welcomed by the South African public? Why did he wait until now? Curious as ever I contacted the man himself to find out more about this collection.
People are quite intrigued that you are suddenly shifting to menswear. Has this been the plan all along?
All I am doing is diversifying our brand and making sure that we are able to cater to a demand from men wanting us to do this. I did not want to go into menswear until I was happy that we had the proper supply chain in place in terms of fabrics and trims. I also needed to ensure that we could manufacture to an exacting standard and the product could hold its own. We have always done a a bit of menswear for select clients and what we wanted to do with this collection to simply increase the product offering but limit the quantities. It’s done at the same level our women’s wear collection is and is based on the same design philosophy.
The campaign drops you have released for this collection suggest it will be all formal, does this carry through the whole collection?
The collection is more about tailoring and is exceptionally formal as that is what my market wants. Fine tailoring in exceptional fabrics. The collection is also largely geared for made to measure orders. There are a standard collection of suits with different fits and silhouettes from which clients can select from.
What was your inspiration process for designing your menswear collection, is it different to designing for women?
I think the inspiration process has largely remained the same although not as evident in the styling of the collection. I think the movie “American Gigolo” was part of the inspiration for this collection. I remembered Armani doing the suits for the movie and it had always stayed as a reference in my mind. We have focused on adding detail in the construction and the finish of the garments and wanted the fabrics and the design to speak first. I think that our male market is as discerning as our female market but not overtly flashy. The men we tend to dress are engaged in business and have an appreciation of fine things in life.
(Above: Jeannie-D [photo credit: styleguidecapetown] and Leanne Liebenberg who are regularly spotted in Gavin Rajah's clothing)
There has been confusion on wether or not this is a made to order or a bespoke collection, can you clarify?
This collection is based on largely made to order. As opposed to our ladies collection we have found that men who want to spend money on suits want them to fit well. There too many off the peg collections in the market and our intention is to focus on menswear which is made to order. We keep a limited range of standard sizes which we are able to tailor to fit but by and large everything is made to order.
Where will this collection be available to purchase?
This collection available at present via our studio only and from later this month the collection is available on our online store www.gavinrajah.com
Who is the ideal man that you see in 'Gavin Rajah menswear'?
There is not really an ideal man as such but I think someone who has an appreciation of fine craftsmanship, quality and superb fabrics.
What can you tell me about the tailoring? It's obviously very important today to have a well-fitted suit.
For me I think that suits are really works of art. There is meticulous attention to the way the suit falls over the chest, the slope of the shoulders, the way one’s body interacts with the drape of the fabric etc. Fabrics that one uses are as important as all the other components one uses in the construction of a fine suit. Proper interlinings, fusings and linings are just some of the key items in which are integral to the overall fit of the garment. Tailoring in the true sense of the word is just something which is becoming a dying art form. There are a whole new set of skills one needs in constructing a suit and the people who make these garments are true craftsman and have a refined sense of proportion.
What kind of fabrics are you using?
I am using fabrics mostly from Dormeuil. We have used cashmere/silk blends and super 150’s and 200’s in wool predominantly in the collection. The next season we are extending the fabric offering as we have sourced some amazing fabrics from Italy.
The campaign shoots are quite sleek and remind me of a few high-fashion brands, what exactly is the message you wish to convey through your campaign?
I think I needed a campaign which was clean and made the garments speak out and at the same time needed to convey a level of sophistication without being too sterile...it still had to be sexy. I think our message is simple, for the discerning man who loves the finer things in life and who is not too much of a conservative dresser. I think the images had to also be able to sit next to other high fashion brands and compete on an equal footing as a lot of our clientele but ~ also other luxury brands. We worked hard to source a model who we also believed could be sensual and communicative and fitted the garments well and I think we found it in Piero Puccini (PURE MODEL MANAGEMENT) who has an impressive portfolio and with Jesse Leigh Elford, a great photographer who is very fashion forward and has a great eye for detail as well.
Where do you see your brand in five to ten years?
I am overwhelmed by the response and really did not envisage how well it would do and I think we were caught a bit unprepared but next year our intention is to first increase our clientele and then look at creating a far more commercial line by end of year 3. I hope to think that in 10 years from now that it would be as entrenched as our ladies wear (which took ten years to actually come into its own!) and possibly available through select outlets around the world.
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