On Saturday night, as the last of the spectacles of Joburg Fashion Week for 2008 drew to a close, the talented designer Thula Sindie turned and said to me, "it seems like feathers are the fur of spring summer 2008". And while feathers were certainly a feature of international fashion this current season, it was something of a surprise to everyone how frequently feathers appeared on the catwalk this past week.

Mosewamosa had them as ethereal whimsy in her all-white collection, Heni used them as dramatic top notes to his gothic revolution, Frans Kies fringed his beautiful girlie dresses in them, Abigail Keats translated them into rock-chic accessories, while David Tlale constructed shoulder canopies with co-ordinated feather shoes, and Thula himself used feathers to create a dream-like space for his pieces.

The feathers spoke simultaneously of the natural environment and the transience of high fashion. They were a statement of Africa, existing within the global trend discourse.

Mentioning monochrome

Monochrome was another international style trend that dutifully made its appearance on the catwalks at Montecasino this past week. No surprises this time. It was most successfully executed by Frans Kies with his silk colour block mini dresses and Thula Sindie's black and white gingham picnic dresses with plenty of volume.

Mention must also be made of JJ Schoeman's snake-like evening dresses in black and white which were both beautifully crafted, and very flattering to the people wearing them.

Volume, volume, volume…

Volume at the shoulders, volume at the hips, and volume in the skirts. The ladies' collections had plenty of noise going on. Lantern hips were frequent, as were skirts with netting and support underneath them to flare out from the waist.

If you are blessed with a tiny waist and a bit of extra junk in your trunk, this is an ideal shape for you and we must thank the spirits of fashion for bringing it to us.

The shoulder emphasis is equally flattering for real ladies, with some pleating or draping at the shoulder, balancing out the hips. Carducci's ladies wear did some wonderfully simple shift dresses with this shoulder detail that would fit well into a contemporary wardrobe.

All natural for the chaps

In terms of trends for the chaps, there were some wonderful fitted shorts to the knee that smarten up a casual look. Artistic Soul and Carducci men both had wonderful examples of these.

Also, floral prints are back from the '80s for the boys and appeared in almost all of the collections of men's wear. The hippie-vibe showed up, and paisley print, open necked shirts and striped or checked trousers all reflected this easy-going, bohemian look that pays homage to the '70s, but this time in more natural fabrics.

It was a real pleasure and surprise to see silk back for men's shirts since it has been a while since this has been in the macho domain.

Silk was extremely popular for ladies blouses and dresses as well — the forerunner of a general move toward more luxe fabrics. Tulle, taffeta, brocade, Chinese silk, satin, chiffon and sequins were the staple fabrics of most of the collections for both men and ladies. And while denim and leather were more popular for the urban collections, they were constructed in a more formal way so that even they looked richer to the eye.

There were few tricks used by the designers at this fashion week, it was more a strong showing of commercially astute designs. And while it was a pleasure to view, it was seldom surprising.

I would have liked to see more cohesively styled shows in the manner of young collective Thesis, pretender to the throne David Tlale or old-school Carducci — there is something to be said for thinking through the performance aspect of the collection, rather than just the individual pieces.

And yet, as I returned to Cape Town with a head full of great suits and beautiful frocks, I realised that I had been immeasurably inspired by the work of this small band of South African designers and I'm looking forward to the next instalment at the Virgin Mobile Cape Town Fashion Week 13th– 16th August at the CICC.

For more information on Robyn and for photos from Joburg Fashion Week, go to: http://styleguidecapetown.blogspot.com