🔒 How world sees SA: Local fashion designers a ‘powerhouse’ of creativity – Wall Street Journal

Thebe Magugu’s LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers win last year—the first time it was given to an African talent—brought serious global attention to the South African scene. “[We] aren’t trying to portray the exotic view of what ‘African fashion’ is,” Magugu says. “A lot of the youth grew up with their traditions and cultures, but they grew up watching MTV as well.” Magugu, 27, established his namesake Johannesburg label in 2016. He uses his clothes as a vehicle for social critique; for instance, in his fall 2018 Home Economics collection, his “girl seeks girl” dress, featuring two downcast women embracing, addresses the country’s devastating femicide rate. “I want to express my thoughts and politics and talk about history and culture through my collections,” Magugu says.

Commentary and narrative run through the collections of many South African designers, as does a commitment to craft. South African fashion, says Nagel, “is rich in ingredients that are appealing to the design community. Texture, colour, materials, handcraft and most importantly, storytelling.”

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Lezanne Viviers, 31, who set up her Johannesburg label, Viviers, in 2019, works to emphasize local makers. “South Africa has a heritage of artisans who have always created beautiful objects and textiles from handweaving, beadwork and embroidery,” she says. In her latest offering, a floral kimono-style blazer and wide-leg pantsuit are hand-embroidered and hand-beaded with over 1,000 recycled-glass beads.

When Johannesburg-based designer Laduma Ngxokolo, 33, launched his Maxhosa brand in 2012, he wanted to work with mohair produced in his native Eastern Cape. Ngxokolo first created his premium knitwear, with geometric shapes woven from bright threads, for amakrwala, the young Xhosa men who dress elegantly as a sign they have completed their initiation ceremonies. The line has since evolved to include womenswear and home goods. “It’s important for me to preserve our culture,” says Ngxokolo, who uses Xhosa beadwork as an inspiration for his slinky dresses and cardigans striped in typical Xhosa colors of yellow, red and blue.

Rich Mnisi, 28, who launched his namesake Johannesburg line in 2015, found it challenging to break into fashion at first, when classic African prints were still the global expectation. “If you didn’t fit into that idea, then sorry, you weren’t African enough,” says Mnisi, who often creates gender-fluid pieces. One of Mnisi’s best-known looks, worn by Beyoncé, is the patchwork Rhundzu (which means love in Xitsonga) blouse and a white half-pleat skirt. “Everything is layered,” says Mnisi, who often channels his mother and late grandmother, both fans of pleated skirts.

“It’s up to us to define the term ‘African fashion’ or ‘African designers,’ ” says 2020 LVMH Prize finalist Sindiso Khumalo, 40, who launched her textile-focused label in 2014. With an intricate print of inkhelis (hats worn by married Zulu women), cows and villages, Khumalo’s white ruffled midi dress tells a story about her own wedding. “There’s a beautiful rebelliousness about the spirit of design we have,” says the Cape Town designer, who worked under architect David Adjaye and studied at London’s Central Saint Martins. “When the personal South African narratives come through, it’s so potent,” she says. “I think that’s the renaissance we’re going through at the moment.”

Models, Antonia Julies, Michaelyn Van Der Vent and Megan Woolley at My Friend Ned, and Dami Oni and Lisa Philander at FanJam Agency; hair and makeup, Alet Viljoen.