Dressed for success; A Johannesburg designer creates a sassy new style.(Nkhen-sani Manganyi's clothing is symbolic of a new attitude in South Africa)

Byline: Henk Rossouw

The clothes inside Nkhen-sani Manganyi's Johannesburg boutique reflect the muted colors of the city's skyline at dusk: orange linen corsets and skirts in brown taffeta and golden silk. Now the streets of South Africa's capital are beginning to reflect Manganyi's vision: since apartheid collapsed 10 years ago, black women have noticeably transformed their style of dress. Gone are the Winnie Mandela combat boots and baggy T shirts with angry slogans that defined the apartheid era; instead, women are proclaiming their independence through bold, flowing, stylish clothes. "My clothing is celebratory," Manganyi says. "More than anything, I'm trying to express my passion for life--this life, in this country, on this continent."

With more than a new look, Manganyi, 30, encapsulates a new attitude in South Africa. When she launched her label, Stoned Cherrie--1950s slang for a pretty girl--in 2000, it was the country's first black-owned designer line. To many South African women, Manganyi has become a role model--not just as an innovative fashion designer but as a leader of an emerging generation of black women who are entrepreneurial, optimistic and assertive. She has been likened to a youthful Oprah Winfrey; she and her husband host a talk show that features black success stories.

Such tales are increasingly common. A host of black-owned design houses--including Sun Goddess, Darkie and Machere--have rapidly emerged to compete with Stoned Cherrie. "Manganyi came with the right product at the right time in the right place," says Kassi Naidoo, creative director of Y, a magazine that tracks Johannesburg's cultural trends. "Her label is saying, 'Be your own person but show your roots.' "

Manganyi calls her style "street couture"--luxurious fabrics tailored to show off the streetwise sass of Johannesburg. Her signature item is a long, A-line skirt, inspired--like much of her clothing--by the 1950s. Manganyi first fell in love with the fashion of the 1950s as a young actress in the 1994 hit musical "Sophiatown," which featured scenes of that town's vibrant nightlife. Her performance won her a following; in 1994, ...