SELFI SS16 Collection

WORDS Malibongwe Tyilo

Women’s bodies and how they are viewed and presented in popular culture has long been a hot topic in society and lately on social media through campaigns like #freethenipple.

Celeste Arendse, the designer behind the Cape Town-based label, SELFI, has decided to confront the topic head on in her Spring Summer 2016 collection and lookbook, by taking inspiration from artists Henry Matisse and Pablo Picasso. The collection is titled Breasts of Desire and in it Celeste references how these artists explored women’s bodies in their artistic practice.

“Women’s bodies were perceived as a subject of beauty as opposed to pornography, as is common in western society today,” explains Celeste. “Traditionally in African tribes women’s breasts are exposed and not sexualised, therefore the environment where the naked body is placed and what makes it socially acceptable was also explored. We are constantly being fed pornographic imagery of women’s bodies by mainstream media and the internet, where we have the power to change this. Our bodies are works of art; this collection is to remind us of that.”

To this end, the collection features digital prints of obscure images of breasts printed onto moss crepe. Celeste also shot and art directed the lookbook.

Keep up with SELFI via selfi.co.za and follow them on Instagram.