BY ELEANOR DOUGLAS-MEYERS
Fourteen years after Braemore Lundall-Sauls set out to disrupt Nelson Mandela Bay’s idea of a fashion show, Luce della Moda is back. Its 2026 chapter, ECLIPSE, is bigger, more collaborative and arrives at a time when the designer behind it is stepping into the spotlight too.
There is a phrase that has found its way into fashion conversations in recent years: you can tell when a designer loves women.
Spend a little time talking to Nelson Mandela Bay designer Braemore Lundall-Sauls and it becomes clear that, for him, fashion has never simply been about putting a dress on a body.
It is about how the person feels wearing it. It is about the makeup artist, hairstylist and model who bring an idea to life. It is music, movement, theatre and creating a moment.
That thinking sits at the heart of Luce della Moda 2026: ECLIPSE, which takes over the Boardwalk ICC on 10 October.
Calling it a fashion show, however, does not quite cover it.
“It is a collaborative platform of creators that is going to end up giving you a singular Cirque du Soleil kind of vibe and feel and moment,” Lundall-Sauls told 041Online.
“Creators from what you see on stage, what happens backstage. It is many, many minds doing the same wonderful thing.”
Throwing a boulder into the puddle
Luce began as Lundall-Sauls’ way of returning to his first creative love.
His career had taken a few detours. He spent a decade working alongside renowned Gqeberha jeweller Francarlo Micilotta, who he describes as his “business father”, travelled internationally while working aboard cruise liners and later found another creative outlet through his Earthfyre candle brand.
Fashion, however, remained.
And when he eventually returned to it, quietly dipping a toe into Nelson Mandela Bay’s fashion scene was never going to be enough.
“I’m not going to just put my toes in the puddle,” he remembers deciding. “I’m going to throw a boulder in first.”
That boulder was Luce.
The first event was held at the Athenaeum and Lundall-Sauls admits he charged guests nothing because he did not yet understand the value of what he was creating.
But he knew what he wanted them to experience.
There were gold date balls, black milk tart and champagne. A pianist could finish playing and become the next model. A DJ became part of the performance. Artist Nathan Sanan was enlisted to spray-paint a bride as part of the spectacle.
It was deliberately not a conventional runway show.
Fourteen years later, that remains Luce’s identity.
Bigger than a runway
Each edition has expanded on that original idea.
Hair, makeup, music, performance and fashion are not treated as separate elements added together at the end. For ECLIPSE, creative teams are developing the complete visual story together.
“Luce has become a visual spectacle,” Lundall-Sauls said.
It has also become a platform.
Established businesses and creatives work alongside emerging artists, giving young makeup artists, hairstylists, models and performers an opportunity to contribute to the same production as recognised names and brands.
For Lundall-Sauls, that collaboration is as important as what eventually appears on stage.
Stepping into the light
Luce is not the only thing that has evolved.
Braemore himself is more visible now.
For years, Lundall-Sauls was comfortable allowing the work to speak while the person behind it remained relatively removed from the spotlight.
“The work now, having gotten a life of its own, is carrying me,” he said.
Away from the public-facing brand, he describes himself as the “small person”, someone who still needs quiet and grounding while the name Braemore becomes increasingly recognisable.
“The brand does its work,” he said.
Recognition brings opportunities, but it also creates expectation. Once people know what you can do, inevitably comes the question: what next?
ECLIPSE is his answer.
And its official theme, “A Journey from Shadows to Light”, feels particularly fitting for a designer becoming increasingly comfortable standing beside the work he spent years creating. (Webtickets)
An ‘assault of beauty’ on the senses
On 10 October, Lundall-Sauls does not want an audience politely watching models walk from one side of a conventional catwalk to another.
He wants them looking everywhere.
Fashion will collide with dancers, singers, live music and other creative collaborations throughout the evening.
He laughs that he wants guests to resemble meerkats, constantly lifting their heads because something else is happening somewhere in the room.
“I want them to be visually assaulted. I want them to be audibly assaulted,” he said.
“I want people to almost feel like they’re so a part of it that they can look for little details and be surprised, because there will be more.”
He calls it an “assault of beauty on all your senses.”
Let there be light
What began as one designer’s bold return to fashion has become something Lundall-Sauls believes is bigger than himself.
Nelson Mandela Bay has designers, models, musicians, dancers, hairstylists, makeup artists and visual creatives. Luce gives those worlds somewhere to meet.
“It’s become a platform bigger than the person,” he said.
Perhaps that makes ECLIPSE the perfect name for its next chapter.
Luce della Moda means Light of Fashion. This year’s production is about moving from shadows into light.
For Lundall-Sauls, that journey seems to be happening both on and off the runway.
On 10 October, he is inviting Nelson Mandela Bay’s creatives to step into that light with him.
Event details
Luce della Moda 2026: ECLIPSE
Date: 10 October 2026
Time: 18:00
Venue: Boardwalk ICC, Summerstrand, Gqeberha
Tickets: R320 via Webtickets (Webtickets)
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