It all started with the idea to do things differently. Listen to the designers, find cool venues and really involve everyone passionate about the fashion industry and it’s success in South Africa. Along with the core idea of making the SA public aware of the designers, so that locally made and designed would be chosen over imported, has never changed.
On the 4th of February 2015, in a (hot!) underground parking lot at the V&A Waterfront, the first model stepped out to electric energy, and Jenevieve Lyons became the first collection to ever be shown on our platform. Over 250 designers would follow in the decade until today, with many still on our journey at SA Menswear Week.
Always in interesting venues, SA Menswear Week moved into the secret concrete bunker in the new Cape Town Stadium for a few seasons, even using the military base next door for a secret show for Chulaap! From there it was abandoned cruise terminals, warehouses, The Palms in Woodstock, the new KPMG building, and finally to Wonderland Film Studios which is one of the few spaces in the city large enough to accommodate our requirements.
2025 EVENTS / DATES:
There’s a lot to celebrate, and for this season we’ve pulled out all the stops, evening moving the event back a month to keep on adding in more and more!
SA Menswear Week merged into the WEEK OF FASHION programme during 2023. This umbrella is designed to combine a number of initiatives, of which SAMW is one, under a single title. This includes the Womenswear Collections (added during Covid to support the designers), GRAD WEEK, FASHtalks, SHOWrooms and of course, SA Menswear Week.
[UPDATED] SA Menswear Week will take place at Wonderland Film Studios from 02 to 03 May 2025, and will feature the range of collections from all the designers, and some from our journey of 10 years, including the Womenswear Collections, GRAD WEEK, talks, displays and the showrooms. Programmes such as FUTURE TALENT will present 3 new young designers poised to become the next big designer names.
There will be a full schedule of talks available to all registered fashion and design students, industry members, designers and media taking place on Friday the 2nd of May 2025 from 12h00. The talks will run for approximately 3 hours with two breaks. The full updated schedule of topics, speakers and discussions will be shared here on the 10th of April 2025.
REGISTER NOW:
We’ve amended the schedule for 02 and 03 May 2025 and this will be made available by Friday 04 May 2025 on our website. In the interim, all pre-confirmed registered media will be emailed an updated schedule via email. Should you have missed our round 1 registration as one of the following: Media, Buyer, Industry Guest*, Influencer** or recruiter, please use the MEDIA REGISTRATION LINK above in the menu.
There are no tickets available for sale, as all guests are invited by designers or invited industry members. However the following are open to the public with special online registration:
FASHION TALKS / PRESENTATIONS: These can be attended by registration online to confirm your spot. Only the first 100 applications will be considered. This interactive series of panels and talks will also host a few surprise fashion installation presentations throughout.
SHOWROOMS AND PRESENTATIONS: These run throughout the day of fashion week, and are open to anyone who has registered online and approved. The pass wont allow access to any catwalk shows, but you will be able to experience the energy and activations at fashion week. Presentations will run in the SHOW ROOMS venue, as well as stands by industry partners and a number of booths by designers. Also remember to get your pic on the red carpet!
TICKET LOTTERY WILL BE BACK: During April, we’ll give out a number of standing tickets to shows over the course of each week. Keep your eye on social media as this isn’t just a single show ticket, each one will enable you to attend the FULL evening of shows! 100 guests an evening will be able to join on our standing decks and experience all the magic of SAMW. Our last lottery had 3800 entries, so remember to get filling in as soon as each phase opens!
For any enquiries please email:
media@menswearweek.co.za