by Mandy de Waal (@mandyldewaal) Phendu Kuta’s intuitive understanding of what makes for a great fashion shoot is uncannily brilliant. Her understanding of local fashion and culture is what sets her magazine apart. Richly storied, Kuta’s creative work for the online fashion magazine she founded — called Unlabelled — is pure visual genius. She chats to us about her magazine, fashion, culture, style, and more.
Like most creative entrepreneurs, Kuta wears many of the hats that make this business. She founded the online Unlabelled Magazine mid-2014 and is at once the youth-culture magazine’s stylist, creative director, editor and production manager.
But then the 20-something fashionista is hardly green behind the ears when it comes to entrepreneurship. Kuta founded Edged Designs, an eclectic jewellery business, four years ago and sold her creations in places such as Pushkin and Guillotine — Jozi’s chic, now boutiques. By 2012, she was getting noticed and winning accolades from Elle. 2014 saw Kuta launch Unlabelled.
Mandy de Waal: Who are you?
Phendu Kuta: I’m a very openminded person and I think that reflects how I think, and my opinion, my views tend to be very neutral on most issues and they tend to be quite flexible in a general sense. I think it is important to have an opinion but opinions are generally based on perception, which is often biased. I developed an open mind from moving around a lot in my childhood.
MdW: Tell us about Unlabelled.
PK: I started Unlabelled in August last year. I started it because I felt like there weren’t many magazines representing the youth of South Africa in a real and authentic way.
Every issue is different from the next, but the consistent characteristics of each editorial are [that they need] to be edgy, young and representative of South African youth particularly in Joburg.
The audience is quite diverse. It is mostly creatives or people with an interest in the creative industries (fashion, music, art, photography etc), ranging from ages 17–32, and thankfully we also have an ever-growing international audience. The reception in general is quite good, especially since the mag is still in its infancy; there’s so much that we are constantly working on improving.
MdW: What is your view of fashion as presented by traditional magazines such as Vogue or Vanity Fair?
PK: I think Vogue, Vanity Fair and traditional magazines in general are great for those who enjoy the content. Do they set real ideals for women in terms of beauty? Not really but, then again, they have specific business models and those work for them. With Unlabelled, the team, collaborators and I aim to communicate an authentic view of the direction that we see local youth culture moving. Sometimes we disregard local youth-culture trends and sometimes we acknowledge and apply them; it all depends on whether an issue is influenced by being antifashion or whether its influence is being cool and “in”.
MdW: Do you think that youth culture is disrupting what fashion is?
PK: Sometimes it does. Right now, no; youth culture and fashion are both quite stagnant right now, in my opinion.
MdW: Do you think that social media is democratising fashion?
PK: I don’t think fashion can be disrupted but the powers that be in fashion can be disrupted. Fashion is an ever-changing phenomenon so it cohabitates with disruption. And social media is definitely democratising fashion. We are now seeing people from different walks of life sharing their tastes and views on fashion and getting the credit they deserve.
MdW: How did your interest in fashion begin?
PK: I remember when I was studying marketing; I just wanted to study something creative. I didn’t really have a deep interest in fashion; I just wanted to study something creative so I chose fashion.
MdW: How do you define style?
PK: I think style is based on individual choices and taste levels. Style can come naturally or style can be taught. Style is definitely a much more simple entity than fashion.
MdW: What is your style?
PK: My style is classic edgy. I like to invest in clothing pieces that are season-less and timeless but have a cool or edgy factor. I am super-adventurous with my hair and I love to constantly switch it up.
MdW: Whose style do you admire?
PK: I love Alexa Chung and Zoe Kravitz’s style[s]; both of them don’t ever look like they are trying.
MdW: What is happening at the nexus of gender and fashion? Any thoughts about how these two forces are meeting, bumping and grinding up against each other?
PK: I think the fashion industry has for a very long time been indirectly endorsing gender equality in the LGBT community. We have already started to witness how current affairs and the media are already impacting the direction of fashion. A recent example is how androgyny and gender neutrality was a key feature in some of the collections in the previous [South African] Menswear Week.
Mandy de Waal is a writer based in Cape Town, South Africa. Follow her on Twitter at @mandyldewaal or email her at MandyLdeWaal [@] gmail.com.
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