THEBEMAGUGU SHOWS FIRST MEN’S COLLECTION SS22 AT PITTI UOMO

A finalist for the Woolmark Prize Award, the South African designer/brand “DOUBLETHINK” presents its debut menswear collection at Pitti Uomo in Florence.

It explores corruption and the whistleblowers who confront it. Our society struggles with many ills as a result of the insidious policies of its leaders. We in South Africa have regularized the daily narrative of the missing millions and the economy-controlling families.

“THE WISTLEBLOWERS” is a book by Manny Wiener that serves as the framework for the collection. The courageous nature of whistleblowers is rarely celebrated. Their position is generally one of insubordination, pariah-like status or troublemaker status, and wearing the scarlet letter W. The book illuminates whistleblowers’ plight in South Africa, in hopes of advocating for changes in legislation, organizational support, and social attitudes.

With this, the collection’s strong western influence was born, exploring the idea of White Hat Heroes and Black Hat Bandits.

For the collection, the illustrious political cartoonist Jonathan Zapiro – whose intelligent and confrontational illustrations have burnt onto our collective cultural hive mind – contributed his archival works to be used as headlining prints.

The collection is titled “Doublethink”, a term coined in George Orwell’s seminal novel, “1984”, which is defined as the act of simultaneously accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs. Corrupt politicians are conscious of the truth, while telling carefully constructed lies – the art of knowing and not knowing.