Founded in 2019 by designer Jacques Bam, The BAM Collective is a Centurion-based label redefining South African fashion with flair, concept, and a firm commitment to individuality. Known for expressive silhouettes and kaleidoscopic colour palettes, the brand merges art-school experimentation with catwalk precision, creating garments that do more than dress the body; they celebrate it.
Bam’s fashion journey was shaped by his training at LISOF (now STADIO), early work with brands like ERRE and Isabel de Villiers, and a defining win at the SA Fashion Week Student Competition. What began as a fashion school project evolved into a personal design philosophy rooted in identity, performance, and the emotional power of clothing.
Identity in Motion
At its core, The BAM Collective is less a label and more a language—spoken through pattern, silhouette, and colour. Each garment is made-to-order and locally produced in their Johannesburg atelier, reflecting the brand’s commitment to slow fashion, sustainability, and craft-centred design. Their model is intimate, intentional, and grounded in creating work that is as meaningful as it is beautiful.
With sizing that ranges from 28 to 50—and the option to tailor garments for each client—the brand is a leader in size-inclusive design. “Clothing should adapt to the individual, not the other way round,” says Bam, positioning The BAM Collective as a brand that centres the person before the product.
Philosophy: Emotion, Play & Provocation
Bam’s approach is instinctive, concept-driven, and proudly defiant of fashion norms. The BAM Collective lives in the in-between: masculine and feminine, structure and fluidity, tradition and experimentation. At every turn, there’s a sense of boldness, of theatre, of deliberate joy.
Rather than chasing seasonal trends, each collection begins with an idea—a feeling, a reference, a metaphor. Across seasons, the label treats fashion as visual poetry: saturated with colour, deeply personal, and charged with meaning.
Collections: Concept First, Always
Fauvism (2022)
A vivid reinterpretation of the early 20th-century art movement, this collection translated emotional expression into wearable art. With custom jacquards, exaggerated sleeves, and playful layers, Bam captured the feeling of fauvism in a contemporary, joyful register.
Extraterrestrialism (AW 23/24)
Set in an imagined future, this collection was both a nod to sci-fi and a reflection of home. Using polka dots inspired by South African motifs, sculptural tailoring, and 3D techniques, the range created a space where the familiar met the fantastical. First shown in Milan, the collection travelled to Dubai and further cemented the brand’s international appeal.
DYNAMISM 24/25
Most recently, the brand’s SA Fashion Week offering explored transformation as metaphor. From shifting geological textures to fluid shapes and radiant colours, the collection was an ode to evolution—personal, emotional, and cultural.
Why It Matters in Fashion
• Craft with conscience: Every piece is made locally, with careful attention to eco-friendly pigments, recycled packaging, and low-waste processes.
• Community upliftment: From skills development projects to collaborating with rural beaders and seamstresses in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, the brand builds meaningful relationships across the country.
• Radical inclusivity: In a global industry still steeped in rigid norms, The BAM Collective offers freedom—of expression, of movement, of identity.
With recognition from institutions like TWYG (Trans-Seasonal Brand of the Year) and SA Style Awards (Most Stylish Brand, 2024), The BAM Collective continues to evolve. Having already shown in Milan, Paris, and Dubai, the brand is slowly expanding its global footprint—while remaining deeply rooted in local culture and context.
Bam is not rushing the process. The brand’s growth is organic, thoughtful, and centred on connection—not just with audiences, but with the stories that inspire the clothes.
Final Thread: The BAM Collective’s Legacy in the Making
The BAM Collective isn’t simply designing fashion—it’s designing feeling. A love letter to queer joy, South African heritage, and the radical act of self-expression, the brand makes space for people to be fully seen, fully dressed, and fully themselves.
This is fashion that speaks. And it says: welcome to the future. You belong here.