Women in Charge: Inside Sorisha Naidoo's glamorous life

From a girl growing up in Shallcross and working in her parents’ shop to becoming one of South Africa’s most recognisable personalities, Sorisha Naidoo has built her own definition of glamour. Named GLAMOUR’s Most Glamorous, she reflects on the evolution of her style, the designers who continue to inspire her, and why true glamour has little to do with the clothes you wear and everything to do with how you carry yourself.

Here, Sorisha opens up about her most memorable fashion moments, the lessons she’s learned from her style evolution, her creative partnership with South African designer XVIII Victorian, and why being older has only made her dress with more nerve.

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Celebrating GLAMOUR's Most GLAMOURous 2026 Award Winners

Glamour: Congratulations on being named GLAMOUR’s Most Glamorous. What did that recognition mean to you personally?

Sorisha: It moved me more than I expected. I’m a girl from Shallcross who grew up working in her parents’ shop, and glamour was never something I was handed, it was something I built, piece by piece, alongside everything else I was building. So to be named GLAMOUR’s Most Glamorous isn’t just a nod to a dress or a red carpet. It felt like recognition of the whole journey: the discipline, the reinvention, the years of showing up as myself even when it wasn’t the popular choice.

G: What do you think makes someone truly glamorous, what they wear, how they carry themselves, or something deeper?

SN: Clothes are the easiest part. You can buy the dress, but you cannot buy the walk into the room. Real glamour is self- possession, a woman who knows who she is, what she stands for, and doesn’t need the room to confirm it for her. I’ve met women in couture who disappear, and women in a simple cotton dress who own every corner of the space. What separates them is presence, warmth, and a bit of mischief. Glamour without kindness is just decoration. The women I find truly glamorous are the ones who make other people feel taller.

G: How would you describe your personal style today, and how has it evolved over the years?

SN: Today my style is bold, sculptural and unapologetic. Strong silhouettes, a defined waist, drama in the shoulder or the hem, and a colour that means something. Twenty years ago I dressed to be accepted: safe, pretty, palatable. Pageant polish, nothing that would ruffle anybody. Somewhere along the way I stopped asking whether a look would be liked and started asking whether it was true. The Real Housewives accelerated that. When you know a nation is going to have an opinion regardless, you may as well give them something worth discussing. That freedom changed my wardrobe entirely.

G: What are the key ingredients that make a look feel unmistakably Sorisha?

SN: Structure first. I want architecture, not fabric draped and hoping for the best. Then a defined waist, because that’s my signature line. A rich, deep palette: teal, obsidian, champagne gold, jewel tones that photograph like oil paint. One show stopping element per look, never five competing for attention. Sleek hair so the garment can speak. And finally, finish: the nails, the lash, the shoe, the earring. I’m a details person. If the hem isn’t right, the whole story falls apart. It should look considered, never accidental.

G: You’re known for embracing glamour and making a statement. How do you balance fashion-forward dressing with staying authentic to yourself?

SN: I have one test: does the look wear me, or do I wear the look? I’ll happily take a risk, but the moment I feel like I’m in costume, it comes off. Fashion- forward doesn’t mean chasing every trend. It means being early to something that already suits you. My proportions and my personality haven’t changed. The daring has. So I push the concept, never the core. And I always ask myself whether I’d still love the photograph in ten years. That question has saved me more than once.

G: Is there a particular designer, style icon or fashion era that continues to influence your aesthetic?

SN: XVIII Victorian, without question. My partnership with Victoria has genuinely defined this chapter of my style. She’s an extraordinary South African talent, she doesn’t design clothes so much as build them, and she understands the woman inside the garment before she cuts a single piece. We collaborate properly: I’ll bring an idea, she’ll challenge it, and what comes back is always braver than what I imagined. Beyond her, I’m drawn to old Hollywood: the 1940s and 50s, that Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren commanded, and to the craftsmanship of Indian couture, the beadwork and hand- finishing I grew up admiring.