You know spring has sprung when top designers start unveiling their collections for the next season.
South African designer Rich Mnisi is strutting international runways as he debuted his Spring/Summer 22 collection at Milan Fashion Week this week.
Titled Mafamba Yexe, the Rich Mnisi SS22 collection is inspired by a microscopic view of the African god Bumba’s purge.
It speaks about the discomfort caused by the self-discovery journey.
“Mafamba Yexe finds its inspiration in a microscopic view of Bumba’s purge, made up of cells that, like so many others, split apart to multiply. Pain on the outside, pain on the inside, discomfort everywhere. From that discomfort, cells made echoes of their own likeness, and Bumba birthed the world. In every world, microscopic and universal, the discomfort was the channel from loneliness to the community. From strangeness to connection, to reflection, and eventually, to self-discovery,” says the designer.
Green, yellow and red are the dominating colours in this collection.
“We return to vivid green, a grounding brand colour, meeting a fiery palette of yellows and reds across signature silhouettes. Abstract prints inspired by bacteria under a microscope creep across the body. Smooth and printed leathers lend lively tactility, while feathers offer a softer touch,” says Mnisi.
Fresh from the runway, this collection is already being worn by other designers. Demi Oyenekan, a Nigerian designer who also attended Milan Fashion Week, wore the Rich Mnisi Mafamba Yexe collection on day 2.
Meanwhile, Rich Mnisi rocked a white miniskirt, displaying his long legs on the streets of Milan.