Guests gorge on style at fashion feast
“MAGNIFICO” is perhaps the best word to describe the stylish feast of fashion and food served up at L’Aperitivo, a little gem of a venue tucked away in a trendy courtyard on Umhlanga’s Aurora Drive.
It was the perfect setting for “Aperitivo e Moda”, a marriage of Italian cuisine and all things fashionable last Friday night.
Tapping into their Italian roots, Durban stylist Sabrina Maingard — known as Durban’s “fashion nanny”— and L’Aperitivo’s Cecilia Di Cecco hosted the event as a tribute to fabulous local fashion, beautifully crafted Italian shoes and delectable food.
Maingard was inspired to stage the event after a recent trip to Rome which left her keen to capture the essence of its “street culture, electric atmosphere, delectable aromas and the Italians’ intense love affair with fashion”.
Looking striking with lashings of red lipstick and sky-high wedges, Maingard welcomed eager fashionistas off the red carpet.
Few could resist the buffet station, where a feast of deli-style snacks beckoned: white cheese and cherry tomato skewers, paninis, smoked salmon bruschettas, cheese boards, Italian breads and a pasta station.
While guests chowed down, elegant models sashayed around the room showing off Italian-made shoes on trays.
Shoe designer Federico Aliverti was on hand to introduce shoe lovers to his carefully crafted range of ballerina pumps, boots and stilettos.
The well-fed guests then took their spots on either side of the runway to see the work of emerging designer Lauren Judith-Anne, whose funky street wear — in black, gold and metallics — garnered applause, as did Cape Town designer Claire Hojem’s W9Apparel range of little black dresses, jumpsuits and floral jackets.
There were also designs by Johannesburg fashion label Mme Bespoke and Durban designer Zama Mathe, whose showstopper range included elegant floor-length dresses in soft pastel colours.
Mathe, who spent time in Milan learning from the Italians, said: “I will never forget the streets buzzing with beautiful people, all dressed to kill.”