Inspired by catwalks and street-fashion around the world, every collection is limited and once-off. Additionally, the label is also proudly SA-focused, designed in-house by South Africans, with 80% of garments produced locally for a South African consumer.
David West, head of design at Superbalist, says:
The Superbalist label was created to capture the spirit of our brand. We are known for fashion and leading the way in terms of trends. We’re the destination to find something new and exciting. That’s what this collection encapsulates. It comprises accessible, yet unique fashion at good prices, with pieces that have you covered from work to play.West believes the collection continues the brand’s focus on empowering individuality through fashion. “Our hope is that people see the potential to express themselves through the Superbalist label. We help them to do this by releasing limited ranges in exclusive drops every week so that not everybody else is seen in the same item! It’s a collection of the newest trends and wardrobe staples done our way.”
Diversity is another big focus for the brand and the plus-size offering is a key component. This comes through strongly in the Superbalist label, which has the goal of creating main-range items in extended sizes. “Our commitment is to enable you to do fashion, your way. That means ensuring everyone has access to key pieces to unlock their individual creativity and confidence.”
West adds that the Superbalist label is intended to balance on-trend newness while maintaining a sense of timelessness. “Everybody wants to feel relevant, but nobody wants to feel like a fashion victim so getting that balance right is important as a design team. We want these items to last a few seasons. We provide quite a wide spectrum of wardrobe building items from basics to denim to smarter workwear so that the customer has the ability to interpret the collection in their own way.”
As ever, speed and newness are the beating heart of South Africa’s fastest-growing online fashion brand. West says, “We ship fast and deliver new fashion fast. We don’t wait to copy the rest of the world – we absorb the trends we like and interpret them in our own way, for a South African audience.”
So, what are the trends shoppers can expect to see in the inaugural collection? Superbalist trend director, Anja Joubert, touches on a few, “I think the biggest influence has been the strong and slightly retro colour palette. There’s a big shift into the rust, ochre, rich browns and neutrals tones like stone, whether it’s summer or winter. As we move into more seasonless dressing, those old ‘rules’ don’t really apply anymore.
“Pattern is also looking exciting this season; animal has taken over into all silhouettes and tie-dye makes a sophisticated comeback. Within
themes utility, retro undertones and a return to smarter dressing specifically are replacing the prior dominance of athleisure. There is a real ease and effortlessness when it comes to dressing and silhouettes, especially dresses.
Joubert says that the main source of the collection is to embody the values and attitude that Superbalist represents. “We’re building a clothing brand from scratch, which is exciting, not without its challenges obviously, but the next natural step for us. We have an amazing team of people and what gives us our edge is that we’re agile as a company and value being able to react quickly. Everyone is very hands-on, and the attitude is one of trying something new and being inventive as opposed to ‘this is the way we’ve always been doing things’.
It’s a very dynamic space to be in and that’s great for creativity and pushing things forward.”
Superbalist the label launched on 4 June 2019 on Superbalist.com.
