He is still in disbelief about the death of his friend, colleague and creative collaborator Kiernan 'AKA' Forbes. Every year, seasoned Fashion Designer Ole Ledimo would dress deceased rapper AKA for SA Fashion Week and all the launches of his partnerships with an alcoholic brand he was ambassador of. He designed and dressed AKA when he launched the Banana flavour of his vodka as well as the Watermelon flavour. This year, however, things are different. Ole feels a void after the rapper was gunned down on 10 February outside a Durban restaurant. 

IN HONOUR

Ole told ZiMoja that he met AKA many years ago, possibly even a decade ago. "I've lost count of the great memories we shared. His death gave me a mental block because he played a pivotal part in the opening of every SA Fashion Week, I told myself that I was going to dress up and look good for my boy in honour of him." SA Fashion Week started yesterday on and ends on 21 October. At the opening party, held at Aurum Restaurant, at The Leonardo in Sandton. Ole wore a black and white printed suit from his new range titled 051, the Bloemfontein area code where he comes from. "The range and the prints are dedicated to my hood and all the things I love and hate about it." Ole said he and AKA had big plans before his death. "We were planning the new flavour and looks and the drip that goes with it. He and I have had many years of collaboration and it's been surreal."

AKA at a previous SA Fashion Week opening dressed in House Of Ole

FAVOURITE LOOKS

Ole's favourite looks that he designed for AKA was the House Of Ole x Nelson Makamo green jacket. It was very iconic and of course the famous yellow suit. "We created the most iconic looks that I feel deserved to be in an AKA museum of some sort. We printed the fabric, the artwork and every stroke that was done by my hand and I didn't collaborate with anyone. That specific colour belongs to him and will forever be AKA's colour and print."

THE UNRELEASED RANGE

Before he passed away, Ole says they were working on the Lemonade clothing range inspired also by his song Lemons (Lemonade) featuring Nasty C. "The range is black, white and green. The jacket is there, complete and we were meant to do a mass production of t-shirts and all. But he passed on. There were sketches, fabrics, and ideas we had made. The blazer Lynn Forbes wore at the memorial service was one of the designs we made for the range. The jacket has the Lemonade lyrics on it. The plan was that he would launch it as a full suit, shirt, jacket pants, and t-shirts that are ready to wear. Everything was set and going well but he passed on," Ole said. He enjoyed AKA's creativity as it challenged him. "I liked the fact that he was different, misunderstood and a lot of people thought he was arrogant but for me, I never interpreted it in that way but saw someone who knew what he wanted," Ole said. "When I created, he challenged me and allowed me to feed off his character. He was very creative and iconic. Every time I was meant to create anything for him, I would go back to his sets and listen to his songs, and that would elevate me and take me to the space he was in when writing the music and we'd be on the same wavelength. He was bold and not ashamed of sharing with the people who he truly was. He loved hard, boldly, and unapologetically." Ole hopes the Forbes family one day allows him to release the collection he and AKA had been working on.

Lynn Forbes wearing the blazer meant for AKA's collection