Instawalks give design inspiration to Skip #MyFabulous campaign

We tend to see 'South Africa' as a single entity, but there are many aspects that make the individual cities unique - fashion style is one of these, especially when it's Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town that you've turned your attention to, says Skip's PR manager Luanne Slingerland, of The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town.

The designers - Lyons, Mnisi and Msimang

And what better way to showcase the individuality of each than with an individual fashion range, designed by a designer from each city and showcased in an Instawalk? It's certainly proven an effective attention-grabber in the current Skip #MyFabulous campaign. Slingerland tells us more...

1. How popular are Instawalks among South Africans?

Slingerland: With the uptake of people using Instagram today, Instawalks are growing in popularity. We know that everyone sees the world differently and we wanted to capture different perspectives of the same place.

2. What was the general response like to the Instawalks?

Skip #MyFabulousJHB

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Slingerland: The Instawalks were pulled together in a short time and we had a really good turnout. Durbanites really responded well, residents in Joburg braved the single figures to join us and in Cape Town, we were really surprised by the amount of people who attended because when we started, it was misty and miserable.

We initially thought the Instawalks would last an hour and a half, but we soon realised that there was so much to be captured in each of the cities that we went on for three hours on each walk.

Everyone chatted, spoke about the various landmarks and got to know each other while photographing their cities. In Joburg, the graffiti in Braamfontein and Newtown was amazing - talent we would not have noticed from the car.

All photographs captured on the day were posted with a hashtag to make them easy to find on Instagram: #MyFabulousDBN, #MyFabulousCPT and #MyFabulousJHB.

3. What was the intention of the Instawalks?

Skip #MyFabulousCPT

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Slingerland: The intention was to gather images of the three cities and the fabulous people who live there.

The images ultimately become the mood board for each city's designer to reference when creating their ranges.

Followers of @SkipSouthAfrica on Instagram are also taking part in themed InstaChallenges. Think texture, colour, city icons, and art. The themes can be interpreted any way and the designers are finding unexpected gems throughout this process.

4. Was this intention met?

Slingerland: Yes, and then some. Not only have we receive a lot of images - and they keep coming - but the images really captured the beauty of Durban, Joburg and Cape Town, and the people who live there.

5. Explain how fashion ranges are inspired by people through #MyFabulous.

Skip #MyFabulousDBN

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Slingerland: The campaign celebrates our unique fashion styles - Durban vs Johannesburg vs Cape Town. What Skip has set out to achieve is a range for each of these cities inspired by the people who live there and the images they capture and post on Instagram. Each city has its own hashtag: #MyFabulousDBN, #MyFabulousJHB and #MyFabulousCTN. Throughout the month of June into July, @SkipSouthAfrica posted Instachallenges for the public to take part in. While these images were posted, a designer from each city: Sibu Msimang (DBN), Rich Mnisi (JHB) and Jenevieve Lyons (CT) followed the images and is using them for inspiration for their respective ranges.

From mid-July, they've started manufacturing the inspired ranges, and on 13 August, the ranges will be revealed to the public at the Skip Fashion Exchange event in Johannesburg. It's a very exciting project!

It certainly is an interesting way of gaining attention through Instagram, and there's benefit to those Instagram 'likes' - the most inspiring contributor from their city, with the winner receiving their respective city's limited edition collection to the value of R50,000, tailored to fit them.

For more, follow Skip on Facebook or follow @SkipSouthAfrica on Instagram and Twitter.