South Africa was left in disagreement this past weekend after seeing the Olympic team’s outfits. Some seemed to like the design while others were not impressed.
The gear was designed by four designers from the Durban Fashion Fair mentorship programme. Nompumelelo Mjadu, Sipho Lushaba, Mbali Zulu and Sandile Sikhakhane worked alongside Mr. Price to create the outfit that the SA Olympic team wore at Friday’s opening ceremony.
Media personality, Somizi Mhlongo-Motaung, was among those who were left unimpressed by the outfits for the Olympic team.
“Who woke up and decided nansi ingonyama yakithi baba (singing a verse from The Lion King). Yazi basigqokisa … yho angi (they made us wear … I’m not understanding). Swaziland, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, were beautiful in their authentic cultural outfits. Thina sa decider ukuya e Zuurbekom (we decided to go to Zuurbekom), like why? Why do we always get it wrong? Tell me what you think, guys? Because I was not impressed,” said the Idols judge.
The designers confirmed that they had worked according to the brief. Lushaba said that people reacted the way they did because they didn’t know the inspiration behind the gear.
Lushaba said that they wanted something that would represent the whole of South Africa, which is why they went for the animal print and the protea, instead of choosing one culture.
Lushaba said that, “We were briefed about what they wanted and what they would love to wear. From there, we came with making a print of our own inspired by the Mandela dream. From there, we took the element of the Mandela shirt, which is the print, then we came up with the Big Five.We took one of the animals, the leopard, and incorporated that with the zebra print, and we took the protea to incorporate it with the athlete’s dream”.
He added that they were not responsible for the shoes, only the clothing. The shoes were designed by Veldskoen.
Here are some reactions to the outfits:
we already lost the olympics😩 https://t.co/YbgtDzzmAs
— at sean share (@sean_share) July 23, 2021
Veldskoen shoes?
— PLEASE REGISTER TO VOTE! (@ET_Nchabeleng) July 23, 2021
Mr Price Sport?
No guys, this kit no.
Was Gert-Johan Coetzee not available? https://t.co/iLuOs5ej1W
this feels racist but i can’t prove it 😩 https://t.co/LbJjK3es4R
— Money Ma$e (@CFC_Arianna) July 23, 2021
Sources: MSN
Follow FiND iT on Facebook here.
ALSO READ: Olympics opening ceremony director fired over Holocaust joke
