Posts tagged louis vuitton

My favourite South African It Girl, Miss Bonang Matheba, has landed the coveted ELLE South Africa cover. I’m more than pleased for her. She’s come such a long way. When my former employer - ELLE - contacted me to chat to them about B*’s rise, I immediately knew she’d scored the cover - super exciting. And in such an impactful fashion, too. She was swept to NYC and shot wearing Louis Vuitton. How’s that for fab?

Annelize Visser - ELLE’s brilliant Features Director - wrote the cover story and, as usual, did a magnificent job. She truly is one of the best editorial minds in South Africa and captured Bonang in a way that few writers in SA have managed to do.

I adore the inside pics, but I do wish they’d have taken advantage of being in the Big Apple a little bit more (all the inside shots are studio based). I decided to dedicate a blog post to the full text I sent to ELLE for inclusion in their cover story. All pics are behind-the-scenes snaps from ELLE’s website. 

My first interaction with Bonang was on a professional level, but I can’t seem to remember the details of our first meeting. I think I must’ve contacted her for a quote for a fashion or beauty story. In Jo’burg, our social circles intersected and I often ran into her at events and parties.

In my experience, Bonang’s always been an enigma. You never really get close to her. We have spent time together off the clock and have had personal conversations, but the veil never really drops. And I can respect that, she’s a public person, I’m a journalist, there’s always going to be that divide, no matter how many times we hang out together. I do think we genuinely get along and she understands that I respect her. Although she’s younger than me, her drive and ambition truly inspire me. 

I think I was one of the first magazine journalists in mainstream (ie,formerly aimed at white women) magazines to really push Bonang at a time when most of my colleagues had never watched Live on SABC1. There was just something about this girl. When she joined Live to co-anchor with Andile Ncube, she was so ‘busy’, loud and kind of raw and uncensored. She laughed raucously at interviewee’s jokes and danced along to the in-studio performances. At the time, that wasn’t really the norm for woman presenters and Andile was seen as the star of the show. And here was this girl, being so natural, acting as if that studio was her mother’s house. And I loved it. Now, her style of presenting is ubiquitous. Every single presenter talks in staccato like Your Girl B.

 I’ve spent a lot of time pondering what makes Bonang ‘special’, why is she ‘the chosen one’? Why has she blown up when many of her peers aren’t household names? I don’t really believe in luck – luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. 

Of course, I can reference some unseen, unquantifiable X factor, but that isn’t saying much. I think one of the reasons Bonang is a success is because, from day one, she’s projected her success. She is a star because she acts the part and not in a cliché diva kind of way. I doubt any other young woman celeb quite understands the fame game and their role in it in as Bonang does. She understands she is a product that needs marketing and she’s highly professional in all her dealings. She’s almost always on time, polite, a pleasure to work with, easygoing, she delivers, she takes herself seriously and, most importantly, she looks the part. I’ve seen so many of her peers schlepping around the JHB streets, clubs and hotels. Bonang knows what time it is. She’s always ‘on’. As someone who only experiences about a tenth of that pressure, I know how exhausting it must be. Last December, she showed me scratches all over her arms from where fans had grabbed her during a mall activation. Hanging out with her is a trip – you have to fit conversation in between fans coming over to ask to have their picture taken. She’s like the best-trained pageant queen I’ve ever seen – she always has time for her fans and never lets that smile slip.

 Some might think her much-lauded work ethic is no big deal, but, if you’ve ever tried to work with other members of young Egoliwood, you’ll soon understand why she’s exceptional. There are no tantrums or demands when one deals with Bonang. Away from the cameras, she’s witty, has a great sense of humour and can be quite sarcastic, but, in my experience, she’s not a Mean Girl.

One thing I really respect about Bonang is how well she’s handled the immense pressure, rumours and plain nastiness that’s surrounded her. She doesn’t entertain it and just keeps it moving. On twitter, she’s earned a nickname, ‘Blockang’, because of how often she’ll block people who direct abuse at her. If you really want to understand how strong her character is, search her name on twitter, or read her mentions or Google her. I would definitely crumble under that pressure.

I think she’s really entering a defining stage of her career and I’m watching her moves closely (as anyone interested in pop culture would). She’s just landed a role on the next season of Intersexions and I don’t doubt it’ll pull in ratings. She really is that popular. I’m interested to see what’s going to come of the circus surrounding her legal battle with ex-boyfriend Euphonik. And I wish her all the luck with it. She’s been on almost every magazine cover in SA (well, the ones that count…), so where to for her?  

In terms of whether or not she has an inner world outside of the celeb game, I can’t really answer that. No matter how many toasts to our success we share, there’s always going to be that gulf … she’s always (and I mean ALWAYS) aware of the fact that she’s in the public eye. Even after that third glass of champers. She’s still on. And that’s part of what’s going to sustain her success in my opinion, her ability to protect who she really is from the prying eyes and opinionistas. She’ll give us the gloss, the sheen, the glam, but no real glimpse into the real her.

After all, she’s a pioneer. She knows it. She’s the first big name star we’ve had since Lebo or Brenda. And she hasn’t had to sell a single song to get there. It’s all based on her ‘personality’ or what she allows us to see of her personality. She’s the first star of our Internet age too, so she’s had to deal with building a profile on new media, struggling with cyber-bullying and, most tiringly, being constantly available for us to consume. 

Pointy heels are making a resurgence, but the dainty, feminine staple is getting a tough upgrade with the introduction of metal tip embellishments:

Louis Vuitton

Topshop

ASOS

Solange Knowles in Staurt Weitzman

Me in BebeBLACK at South African Fashion Week. Pic courtesy of A Fashion Friend.

POINTY TOES are going to be the trend in winters to come, methinks. Why? I present to you a few of the best:

Celine. Even in usually dreadful white, these look beyond hot.

Jil Sander. Salivate.

Stella McCartney. Now this is what sports luxe is supposed to look like.

Anthony Vaccarello. This is a collaboration with Guiseppe Zanotti. Sexy.

GLITTER heels are a Miu Miu thing, right? Lanvin upped the ante with GLITTER SOLES:

BLOCK TOES are the antithesis to pointies. The updated versions are modern, with a classic twist:

Louis Vuitton. These are so special… So wrong, but so right.

Yves St Laurent. Metallic pumps + mirrored heels? The person who gifts me these deserves a hearty ‘yes’ to any marriage proposal.

Pics via.

Oh, be still my beating heart.

Charlize, in my opinion the most beautiful woman in Hollywood today, looks sensational on the cover of ELLE France.

Shot by Mark Seliger, she models the hottest Autumn looks by Ferragamo, Dior, Vuitton etc etc etc

Werk!

Pics via.