Inside Teko Modise’s After Dark celebration: All black, caviar and candlelight at Solo [PICS]

Freckle Eyewear closed out its "Shades in the City" campaign with an intimate after-dark celebration at Sandton's Solo Restaurant. There’s a version of Johannesburg that only shows up once the sun’s gone down and the guest list has been trimmed to a room’s worth of people – and that’s the version Freckle Eyewear went looking for when it moved its “Shades in the City” campaign indoors long after the sun had set on the Jozi skyline. Where the March 2026 leg of the campaign had Siya Bunny and Teko Modise working the city’s most photographed corners – Nelson Mandela Square, The Melrose Gallery, Gautrain Station, the terrace at Alto 234 – this second act stripped all of that away. No skyline, no daylight, no second face fronting the campaign. Just Modise, alone this time, in a private room at Solo, Sandton, for a night built around restraint rather than spectacle. Editorial Noir The room read more supper club than launch event as guests like Teddy Geldart, K Naomi Phakathi, Phupho Gumede and Lerato Kganyago-Ndlela showed off their best Editorial Noir style per the event invitation. Phupho Gumede and Lerato Kganyago-Ndlela at Freckle Eyewear’s Shades In The City After Dark celebration. Picture: Supplied, Taff Studios for Freckle Eyewear Lerato Kganyago-Ndlela at Freckle Eyewear’s Shades In The City After Dark celebration. Picture: Supplied, Taff Studios for Freckle Eyewear Teddy Geldart at Freckle Eyewear’s Shades In The City After Dark celebration. Picture: Supplied, Taff Studios for Freckle Eyewear K Naomi Phakathi at Freckle Eyewear’s Shades In The City After Dark celebration. Picture: Supplied, Taff Studios for Freckle Eyewear Teko Modise and his guests at Freckle Eyewear’s Shades In The City After Dark celebration. Picture: Supplied, Taff Studios for Freckle Eyewear Charmaine Ramalope-Makhubela at Freckle Eyewear’s Shades In The City After Dark celebration. She founded Glam Foodie a South African culinary brand and community founded in 2005. She is a self-taught chef, recipe developer, and media personality who introduced guests to Gourmet Boutique caviar. Picture: Supplied, Taff Studios for Freckle Eyewear DJ Speedsta at Freckle Eyewear’s Shades In The City After Dark celebration. Picture: Supplied, Taff Studios for Freckle Eyewear Lihle Lamola and brand ambassador Teko Modise at Freckle Eyewear’s Shades In The City After Dark celebration. Picture: Supplied, Taff Studios for Freckle Eyewear Caviar at Freckle Eyewear’s Shades In The City After Dark celebration. Picture: Supplied, Taff Studios for Freckle Eyewear Shades In The City After Dark celebration. Picture: Supplied, Taff Studios for Freckle Eyewear Designer eyewear at the Shades In The City After Dark celebration. Picture: Supplied, Taff Studios for Freckle Eyewear Shades In The City After Dark celebration. Picture: Supplied, Taff Studios for Freckle Eyewear DJ Speedsta worked a set pitched for the dancefloor rather than crowd control, Don Julio cocktails moved steadily around the tables, and at the height of the evening, Charmaine Ramalope-Makhubela – the self-taught chef and founder of Glam Foodie – walked guests through a caviar tasting one mother-of-pearl spoonful (or back-of-the-hand bump) at a time. ‘Not about what you wear’ It’s a deliberate shift in register for a campaign that, at launch, was framed around movement – “not about what you wear, but how you move through the city,” as the brand put it, all confidence and unapologetic style against Johannesburg’s most recognisable backdrops. After Dark keeps that same DNA but turns the volume down: fewer people, softer lighting, and eyewear that’s meant to be noticed across a table rather than across a city block. Modise, a fixture in South African men’s fashion circles well beyond his football career, has become something of a shorthand for that off-duty polish – the kind of dressing that looks unbothered but rarely is. Man of the moment Fronting the campaign solo this time puts more weight on that reputation, and the mood of the night – hushed, warmly lit, more dinner party than PR stunt – seemed built to match it. “Shades for me, started off as something that I love because I’ve got social anxiety. I’ve got a thing with eyes and strangers, funny enough, now, I’m on TV and I speak for a living but I don’t like speaking in public… And sekgoa (English) is not my thing,” joked Modise in an off-the-cuff speech, disarming guests by triggering waves of laughter. He concluded by thanking the brand for working with him for years and thanked his guests, some coming in from as far as Cape Town, for showing up to celebrate him in the moment.