A visual odyssey through Johannesburg’s streets reclaims the elegance of resistance
Written by Afrique Noire Editorial Team
In the heart of Soweto, a new generation of creatives is rewriting the narrative of African elegance. Under the creative vision of Rethabile Koro, The South African Dandy emerges not merely as a fashion project, but as a profound meditation on identity, memory, and the transformative power of style.
This photographic series, captured by Katlego Tjatji, traces an arc through South African history—from precolonial splendor through the sharp-suited defiance of Sophiatown’s jazz era, to the bold reclamation of today’s “born frees.” It is a story told in tailored silhouettes, vibrant
The Dandy, as an archetype, has long existed at the intersection of aesthetics and assertion. In South Africa, this figure takes on layered meaning. During the golden age of Sophiatown in the 1950s, musicians like Hugh Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim transformed the stage into a runway, their fedoras and tailored suits merging Harlem sophistication with South African soul. They weren’t simply well-dressed; they were claiming space, demanding recognition, insisting on beauty in a system designed to deny them humanity.
The apartheid era deepened this connection between attire and resistance. When Nelson Mandela appeared at his 1962 trial in regal Xhosa dress, he transformed the courtroom into a theater of cultural pride. Winnie Mandela’s iconic afro and Xhosa-inspired garments became symbols of defiance. Steve Biko and other political leaders understood instinctively what their Sophiatown predecessors knew: a sharp suit could be armor, a statement, a refusal to be diminished.
Koro’s vision honors this lineage while pushing it forward. Her creative team—including art direction assistant Donice Chauke, set designer Lisa Dwashu, and makeup artist Philisiwe Ntuli—has crafted a visual language that speaks to continuity and evolution. The styling, led by Nick Mothibeli, Molebogeng Selete, and Nadine Jaffa, draws from South African designers like ANTI, KAPOR DESIGNS, and KERI’S STUDIO, ensuring that the project remains rooted in local creative economy and contemporary design innovation.
The models—young Johannesburg creatives including Christ Lariz Pelende, Leah Maelane, Phillip Mancephu, and Mbali Sidambe—embody what Koro describes as the modern dandy: confident, culturally grounded, unafraid of opulence. They wear styled locs, colorful suits, bold accessories from ZWANDY JEWELS. They channel the elegance of Miriam Makeba, the swagger of Brenda Fassie, the revolutionary spirit of Boom Shaka, the cool confidence of Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse.
What makes The South African Dandy particularly resonant is its refusal to treat history as static. This is not nostalgia for its own sake, but rather an active conversation between past and present. The project acknowledges the arrival of Dutch ships and colonial imposition, the resilience of Swenka culture and church fashion, the ongoing evolution of township style. It positions contemporary South African youth as inheritors and innovators, carrying forward a tradition of using dress as a form of storytelling, resistance, and joy.
In Koro’s hands, the Dandy becomes a figure of profound possibility—someone who understands that style is never superficial when it carries the weight of cultural memory, when it serves as a declaration of presence, when it transforms the act of getting dressed into an act of self-definition.
Shot against Soweto’s urban landscape, The South African Dandy reminds us that African elegance has never required external validation. It has always existed—in the marketplaces and jazz clubs, in the churches and townships, in the everyday acts of people who refused to let oppression dictate how they saw themselves.
This is fashion as archive, as rebellion, as love letter to a country still becoming. It is Rethabile Koro and her collaborators insisting that the story of South African style belongs to those who live it, wear it, and continue to reshape it with every carefully chosen garment.
The South African Dandy is a creative project by Rethabile Koro (@rethabile_koro / @re.creation.photographs), photographed by Katlego Tjatji. The series was shot in Soweto, Johannesburg, with a team of local creatives and models.
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