Heysous Apparel’s second instalment was heavily inspired by 90’s street, skate and club culture. We were going for a nostalgic feel, apparel that serves to give the user an embrace from their youth. Our goal with this drop as well as our company ethos is to always be inspirational, positive in message, and invoke a state of confidence, joy, love, peace and respect. Do with this message what you will. Have fun, and be free in your interpretation. And most of all know that we are incredibly grateful for your contribution. – Marco De Sousa & Deeva Merwe

The city of Cape Town sprawls further than the CBD, Woodstock & the Southern Suburbs than we might recognise; with 4.7 million folks stretching across the peninsula, we are a city of dreamers – ‘chilled’ – with a reputation for seeding some of the best brands that reflect these precise sentiments. We may not be as fast-paced as our kin in Joburg, but we certainly get it done. Heysous Apparel is a passion-project brand drenched entirely in this spirit; and at CEC, we have had them on our radar for a while. For our monthly fashion column, Interlude, they were one of the local streetwear brands I wrote about for our ‘Ascent of Local Streetwear’ edition, – saying, “Heysous hail from sunny Cape Town – a colourful, joyful ode to friendship and fun, alongside a wonderful size inclusivity. Their offerings are notable for the graphic print tees (our favourite is the Abra A Sua Mente tee depicting consciousness awakening) and bubble style typography, with mantras like “change cometh” and “guided by love”. Priding themselves on responsibly sourced fabrics and local production; we love to see the spirit of Cape Town’s textile heritage celebrated in a youthful way, for everyone.”

With summer ahead, and for their second drop ever, ‘More Spirit Than Flesh’ Capsule 02 Heysous’ co-founders Marco de Sousa and Deeva Merwe continue their joyful charge – and for their campaign, exclusively launched here on CEC, we are thrilled to showcase the work of a dear friend of the publication, Koos Groenewald. In a truly Capetonian style of collaboration – Koos, Deeva and Marco met synchronistically at Stellski’s in Woodstock – and thus, ‘Promdate’ was eventually born. With equipment, models – and Disco Creative’s Founder Candice Hatting in tow (as Koos says, far too qualified to be his assistant, but too fabulous in her ability to make people feel excited and welcome) – Koos captures the energy of Strand promenade – inviting people on their daily mission to join in on the fun. We can’t think of a more delightful way than to spread the intention of Heysous – and celebrate the city and its people. 

Koos explains, “Heysous is a passion project – and so the capsule campaigns felt like it should reflect that, too. We wanted to focus on showing the brand’s ethos of encouraging people to creatively express themselves. I told them about this idea that I had, to go to the Strand and do a street-casting shoot because there’s always such amazing people there. I know the area because my parents moved there 10 years ago, and whenever I visit – I’ve always said I wanted to document the people. There’s such a richness and realness in the people and characters cruising along the promenade.” The result is brightly lit images evocative of that feeling of being by the sea on a summer’s day – when the sand is reflecting its luminescence in lieuw of the sun, and the air is salt-stained and fresh. With beautiful, redheaded models – and appearances from the incredible people of Strand, the campaign is nostalgia & newness effortlessly synthesised – beckoning us to dive into the season ahead with utter gratitude for being alive, and for being South African. Koos says on the task of street-casting, “We bought three cast models with us, to make sure we had people to work with – so we didn’t leave it entirely up to chance-casting – in the end, we didn’t need models because everyone was so keen to be shot. What was an unexpected and beautiful turn of events, is that the models and people ended up being shot together – there was such a sense of unity in how it all worked out.” 

Marco reflects on the drop tself, “This is our second drop, and we’ve been around for a year. This round, we wanted to do something really punchy and small-scale, with the view to drop bi-annually or tri-annually. We wanted to reference 90s, skate and club culture – invoking a sense of nostalgia – so playing in that space, and having that conversation with Koos – his idea of going to Strand was perfect. We trusted him implicitly to do whatever he wanted with it. Heysous is about spreading light, love and happiness – and the campaign reflects that perfectly.” For Marco and Deeva, Heysous is a ‘side’ project (thought no less important, just parallel to their respective businesses and work) – so the brand itself is a critical space in which they can both have total free reign with, creatively. The capsule features an array of tees, plaid and corduroy pants – fit for function, and fun. A notable thread throughout the Heysous design code is the feature of epitaphs – both in English and Portuguese – the latter, a nod to Marco’s heritage. On this, he says, “I add a lot of Portuguese sayings that family used to say to us – they’re personal nods. One of the phrases in this drop, “Quem vê cara não vê coração” is Portuguese and translates to “He who sees a face does not see a heart.” Sometimes I try to disguise the emotion with the Portuguese. I know we can’t always be happy, but I think we can have meaning close to us, especially with what we wear. I find people shy away from the vulnerable embrace or openness in fashion, so this is our way of doing that.”

Some notes personal notes from Marco on the featured garments: 

All our fabric is sourced, dyed and produced locally.

Quem Vê Cara – T

“Quem vê cara não vê coração” is Portuguese and translates to “He who sees a face does not see a heart. 

– Pearl of wisdom taught to me by my Portuguese grandparents. 

Show Me Love – T

Based on the 90’s club track from Robin S, “Show me Love”. 

– The lyrics are all about self-respect and self-worth, ideals that we want this brand to stand for. 

More Spirit Than Flesh – T

No two atoms ever touch, we are more spirit than flesh.

– I like the idea of looking at science and an ethereal lens 

Shop the ‘More Spirit Than Flesh’ Capsule 02 here

CREDITS

Client: Heysous @heysous

Photography & Creative Direction: Koos Groenewald @koooooos

Production & Casting: Disco @discocreatives / @discocasting

Talent: My friend Ned @myfriendned

Models:

Robin @ruobing_j

Dean @_dean_hunter_

Thomas @thomasfartstern 

With special thanks to the people of Strand. 

Written By Holly Bell Beaton

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za