Kathrin Kidger shares glimpses of her ‘out of this world’ designs

RACE-DAY fashion is a highlight of the Hollywoodbets Durban July, and this year’s theme, ‘Out of this World,’ is one that well-known Musgrave designer Kathrin Kidger is excited about.

Kidger is one of a handful of celebrated designers selected to feature their work at the Invited Designers Showcase – the most glamorous element of the Hollywoodbets Durban July fashion experience. We visited Kidger’s studio to take a sneak peak at her designs and to chat about the many ways to interpret the theme.

“It’s a great theme for people to really delve into. Whether it’s looking at the colours in the galaxies and planet systems or the concept of current issues like AI, it asks every designer to look to the future – what does the future look like? From a design perspective, there’s a lot of meat to this year’s theme,” said Kidger.

Also read: 6 stars named for Hollywoodbets Durban July Invited Designer Showcase

While the theme offers plenty of room for interpretation,  for Kidger, it also lends itself to a simple take, making it accessible to the community racegoers.

“One thing I’ve loved about how the July has evolved is that it’s become more inclusive. I think it’s great to have a theme like this – whether you’re a punter or a guest star, you’ve got a theme to dress around,” she said.

And Kidger thinks there will be a myriad of interpretations of the theme on race day.

“I think we will see asymmetry, metallics, or the use of metallics. I think we will see beautiful fabrications that are a lot more texturised. I saw that at the Young Designers Awards. Students were using this beautiful sparkle but reinforcing it with cardboard and batting to create different shapes and silhouettes which I thought were really out of this world,” said the designer.

Also read: This Durban July is going to be ‘out of this world’

For her designs, Kidger centres around the concept of white space – with garments that create the feeling of what the future will look like.

“I like the idea of white space. A big thing with the upturn in technology is this counter-trend of how to embrace technology while also finding a space within it where it refreshes, rejuvenates and calms us in a very frenetic world. Hence the idea of white space,” she said.

Her designs make use of white fabrics and 70s-themed space references.

“All my space references had a strong 70s theme. I looked at artists and how they interpreted their future world – which was clean and simplistic,” said Kidger.

She added that another spin on the theme was to consider technological advances in fabric.

“The technology of fabrication has come so far between that juncture [the 70s] and this.  For us, it was about a multitude of textures and one colour palette, and then we decided to go with chrome accenting. To me, it really feels like a space-themed, hard-tack concept with the idea of white space, creating a mood or feeling of tranquillity. We do have larger silhouettes mixed with tailored pieces and seem to have found a balance within the capsule collection,” explained Kidger.

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