The Label:The collections of the Stoned Cherrie label is absolutely divine! Designer Nkhensani serves up some of the most colorful, funky, classy, and afro-chic designs out there. The label began budding in 2002 and is an African lifestyle brand that expresses the urban culture of South Africa. "In essence, Stoned Cherrie is a product of freedom, a conflation of past and present. Our aesthetic oscillates between our heritage and how Africa has evolved over the years. Our design signature is reminiscent of the celebration of past eras of the 50’s right through to present day South Africa.
Our street wear range has its origins in the era of ‘hippos’and the low level civil war we were engaged in from the 60s up until the early 90s. In our couture offering we were one of the first to successfully take what had been banished to the rural areas and put them on the ramp. We incorporated into our design aesthetic Venda prints and Shangaan inspired beadwork, the Xhosa traditional skirt, and the German print Seshweshwe, reflecting our diverse African cultural influences. Today we are refreshing timeless textiles by weaving and printing our own iconic fabrics."
In 2005 Stoned Cherrie received the L’Oreal/Fairlady Lifetime Achievement Award for their contribution to the development of the South African fashion industry, and they are currently nominated for the Marie Claire Prix d’ excellence; and currently they are nominated for the Department of Arts and Culture “Most Beautiful Objects in South Africa (MBOISA) 2007.
"We at Stoned Cherrie believe in abundance. It is this belief that has kept us constantly inspired to innovate rather than follow. Today Stoned Cherrie is recognized as a smooth, sexy, street-wise label that has artfully swerved fashion stereotypes by being old, new and futuristic simultaneously. We are passionate about social development and believe that as Stoned Cherrie grows as a brand, so too should the communities that have contributed to its identity. We therefore take pride in having contributed to the restoration of dignity to the lives of women from the African Feeding Scheme by employing them as beaders and seamstresses. We have also collaborated with the Sparrow School from Sophiatown as well as rural crafters from Polokwane. Through creative adaptations of crochet, ‘funkifying’ Seshweshwe and resurrecting all our heroes, sung and unsung, Stoned Cherrie has been instrumental in transforming the way South Africans feel about themselves."
The Designer: Nkhensani is considered to be one of the new voices from Africa. Entrepreneur, television personality and actress. She has travelled throughout the world as an entertainer / host and actress in a series of theatre plays including “Sophiatown, The Coloured Museum and Marabi” which received critical acclaim from international audiences. Nkhensani holds a degree in Industrial Psychology and Sociology and is a gifted writer having written articles for O Magazine, Y-Mag, Going Up, amongst others. In 2005 she completed her final season as co-producer and co-host of popular SABC 1 talk show Mojo.
She is a coveted speaker, having been invited as guest speaker at numerous events and conferences, including the internationally renowned Design Indaba. She recently addressed a crowd of the worlds leading entrepreneurs at a gala event in New York alongside the likes of Jerry Yang, the founder and chairman of Yahoo as well as Terry Bernstein CEO of Yahoo.
Having travelled throughout Africa in 1999 as the host and official spokesperson for M-Net’s Face of Africa, Nkhensani recognised that there was a gap in the market – the urban energy that exists on the continent was not being branded and packaged into products. There was an opportunity to build an African brand that celebrated South Africa’s new sense of identity and explored in a creative way what it means to be an African in the 21st Century. She decided it was time to set up a new and now popular African urban fashion label, Stoned Cherrie.
Her pieces can be found in what is known as the fashion district of Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa, a fashion haven for the best in South African design.
