SNAPS | Inside S Mag's celebration of beauty covers party with Mzansi's faves

02 April 2023 - 16:00

Sowetan Magazine's covers for March have shot up trends lists, sparking conversation about the perception of beauty.

The magazine has three covers with one featuring Connie Ferguson and her daughter Lesedi Matsunyane-Ferguson focusing on “generational beauty” and another featuring media personality Azania and her daughter Shamiso Mosaka which “focuses on skin”.

The third cover features actor Warren Masemola and his House of Zwide co-star Wanda Zuma and captures “the evolution of the leading men of South Africa on small screen”.

S Mag hosted a star-studded party at Opera Rosebank with the theme “Your definition of beauty” to celebrate the covers.

“At S Mag we are not really focused on producing pretty images. We want to create conversation within the industry. Conversations about beauty, culture and identity,” said editor-in-chief Emmanuel Tjiya.

We spoke to some of the celebrities spotted at the party about what beauty means to them:

Lesedi Matsunyane-Ferguson

“Beauty for me means being able to express yourself freely, it's the ability to completely be yourself and be confident in yourself. I think that's where true beauty lies, it doesn't subscribe to one thing. Beauty is subjective and in itself is art.”

Candice Modiselle

“I love that S Mag takes the road less travelled, it's easy to gravitate towards and assimilate with what's popular, palatable, what's for clout and what's for the temporary. They capture the essence of eternal beauty and what's also timeless.

“I love that beauty is also associated beyond aesthetic, it's about the gifts that are attached to that. Beauty is craft, beauty is a gift, art and so many other things.”

Celeste Khumalo

“My definition of beauty is really accepting yourself, finding out what it is you like and communicating that to the rest of the world. We are all different, we all come in different shapes, sizes and colours. Thank God we are in a society that allows everybody to shine for being who they are.

“Going forward in life we are taking up space, black people are finding different ways of expressing themselves and this is what the cover speaks about. We have an older generation of iconic beauty but you also have a younger generation changing the standards and definition. I love how Emmanuel depicted the people he chose for the cover. I think it's stellar and forward thinking.”

Makgotso Monyemorathoe

“My definition of beauty is self-acceptance because the world's definition of beauty changes all the time. Beauty trends change all the time and I believe we are all unique, we are not meant to be the same. So true beauty is accepting and owning that uniqueness regardless of what trends are saying.”

Bobby Blanco

“My take on beauty is how you present yourself and how you feel about yourself, whether you are confident about yourself when you go out there, whether you are happy about yourself without wanting to change a thing. Beauty is also within, it's not just about appearance.

“S Mag goes out of its way to make us feel we are beautiful, from the covers to the articles, what they say about us. It shows how they want to empower us as black people to become comfortable with ourselves.”