Fashionably Late: Clothes for the coNNoisseur

To celebrate the revamp of her brand, music and style icon Nhlanhla Nciza - from the well- known South African band Mafikizolo - will be showing the evolution of her clothing label NN Vintage at this year's Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Johannesburg.

Models dressed in NN Vintage will walk the ramp on Saturday, eight years after the brand was established. The label was launched in 2007 and its first public showing was in 2008 at Audi Fashion Week Johannesburg.

The collection, called Evolution, consisted of leather fabrics and African print materials from Nigeria, Malawi, Kenya and Sudan.

Nciza said: ''My collections have always been inspired by African women who wear African prints with pride."

Her new offering will show what she has learned during her travels around Africa and the world.

It is time for young South Africans to embrace their South African-ness in the clothes that they wear, seeing that other African countries have identifiable prints and ways of dressing, Nciza said.

''It would show that they take pride in who they are," she said.

Nciz a gave me a preview of her new collection and explained the meaning of some of the garments.

One of the dresses, called The African Goddess, is long with a pattern of gold leather.

"It shows the beauty of an African woman," she said.

The second, vintage-style garment is a two-piece leather skirt with a top featuring a Kenyan print - a great mixture of vintage and modern, Nciza believes.

Look forward to seeing a gold dress on the runway with broad shoulders and finished with Nigerian print on the bottom hem.

''This piece is for women who are conservative but still want to feel sexy," she said.

For years Nciz a's brand was pretty underground.

''NN Vintage was primarily made for clients who requested an outfit. Making clothes has also helped me find my fashion sense and build a loyal base of clientele.

"Over the past few years I've felt that I've needed to find myself and learn more about the fashion industry. With the help of my seamstress, Nomvula Thabethe, who understands my vision, I think this is the perfect time to show at a big fashion event."

Nciza has been in the music industry for more than a decade as half of the Afro-pop duo who wrote the smash hit Ndihamba Nawe.

''I discovered a love of vintage clothing when I was figuring out how to make Mafikizolo look different from other groups ."

She said fashion was as important a part of a band as the music itself.

She noted how, in the 1990s, kwaito groups such as Boomshaka and Bongo Maffin " mastered a South African sound and helped create a South African musical identity".

• 6:45pm, Saturday, Melrose Arch, afi.za.com