Photographer Katinka Bester
Model David van Rooyen at Topco Models
Styling Mr Doveton
Hair Delin Lee
Words Dana Reboe
As the Summer months melt away to the chill of autumn, change is heralded by plush hues of burnt oranges, brilliant rouges, and sunset yellows. Leaves drifting, a reminder of the bite of Winter yet to come, a distant memory, but so close to remembrance. Heavy cable knits are pulled from their hibernation to live once more, carrying past seasons, knotting in nostalgia. Woven within the seams is reminiscence, a layered comfort, but a sense of renewal. A new life to live, new memories to make within each fibre.
Immaculately layered, David rests against the stark white of a weathered house, draped in fabric; Orange bursts against the blue sky, like fire extinguished in a blanket of ice. As he flips through a lookbook, nonchalant and effortless, he looks runway ready, a faint look of concentration creasing his youthful face as if he’s figured out how to transfer the looks lying on the page to his own body. The sweater’s pattern captures interest, of a story yet to be told, a keepsake between the wearer and the garment, a thread carefully sewn, a memory kept secret and safe.
A leather jacket, a plush sherpa collar, and worn shorts accompany David, sitting on roughly carved stone steps. A moment of connection between photographer and subject, as the sun lends its warmth, the smallest of smirks, an understanding. Looks shifting, changing, melding into something new, braided black wool becomes a focal point, black on black against the baking pavement, legs crossed, arm propped to rest his tilted head.
A butterfly flies across his body, a reminder that all things change. Memories swirl, stitched into clothing with care, a shared history across time, past, present, and future. Warm hues cut across the cool, pale blue of the sky, layered on David is a reminder of a journey soon to come, a journey waiting in the wings.
