The winner of the Most Beautiful Object in South Africa 2013 is Gavin Rajah for his Pebble Dress, who was the overwhelming favourite as voted for by people around South Africa via SMS.
This dress from Gavin Rajah’s Spring/Summer 2013 couture collection was created out of leather pieces that were moulded into pebble shapes and then embroidered onto mesh by hand. The leather pebbles are placed to create a gradation of colour with rose gold blending into chocolate.
Rajah’s studio pioneered the technique to foil ostrich skins with the Klein Karoo Co-op last year. After the technique attracted interest from Chanel and other international fashion brands, the studio decided to create their own textiles in foiled leathers. The result is a more tactile leather with depth and dimension. The garment is handmade and has been created without seams in pure couture tradition.
Gavin Rajah was nominated by Malibongwe Tyilo, in her capacity as a Blogger of Skattie What Are You Wearing?
Speaking from Mumbai, an ecstatic Rajah said: “I’m incredibly humbled by this accolade and it’s a testament of the work being produced by my studio. I want to thank Ravi Naidoo and his team for offering not only this amazing platform to share, collaborate and interact, but bringing to the fore creativity and design in South Africa. A special thanks to all who voted for the Pebble dress.”
Featuring a diverse selection of objects, 11 MBOISA finalists were selected from a list of nominees submitted by a mix of design journalists and cultural commentators in South Africa.
Every year Design Indaba invites members of the public to decide what constitutes beauty through the MBOISA award. More than just an object of visual delight, MBOISA encourages a wider definition of beauty – one that encapsulates social significance, economic impact, usability, sustainability and even humour.
“We had a wildly divergent group of nominations this year, and all were deserving nominees but the public decides the vote and we are thrilled with their choice,” Berman said.
For more information and pics of the Most Beautiful Object in SA, click
