Man Oh Man – Laduma Ngxokolo
We celebrate knitwear designer LADUMA NGXOKOLO, 30, for his innovative clothing label, MaXhosa by Laduma, inspired by traditional Xhosa beadwork.
Laduma Ngxokolo is taking over the world, one knitted item at a time. His groundbreaking knitwear range, MaXhosa by Laduma, has taken the global fashion scene by storm. In 2015, he won the Vogue Italia Scouting for Africa prize, enabling him to showcase his collection at the Palazzo Morando Show in Milan, Italy. And in September this year, he was commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York to create a unique jersey for its exhibition titled: Items: Is Fashion Modern?, a showcase of the history of iconic clothes and accessories. The exhibition runs until 28 January next year. It features 111 objects from around the world, and the exhibition’s curators say the jersey which Laduma was asked to design has had “a profound impact on the world over the last century.”
Laduma’s creativity also caught the eye of superstar Beyoncé, who marvelled at his work after seeing it at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City last year.
The Port Elizabeth-born designer recently completed his Master’s degree in Material Futures at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, after being awarded a scholarship for the two-year course in 2014.
Earlier this year, Laduma announced a joint venture with deejay/producer Black Coffee and artist Nelson Makamo:
they’ll be setting up a Fashion, Art and Music Academy to educate young South African creatives. Applications will be opened next year for the 2019 academic year. And that’s not all. Laduma partnered with skincare brand Nivea to market a campaign which ran from July to October, whereby consumers stood to win one of 250 limited-edition MaXhosa by Laduma T-shirts.
ARTISTIC BACKGROUND
“I grew up in Port Elizabeth,” says Laduma. “I’m the second of three siblings. Fortunately, I grew up in a home where the arts were encouraged. My grandfather was a music composer and an artist. He inspired me and my older sister – who’s also a fashion designer – to explore the creative industry. My late mother read a lot of fashion books and taught me how to knit when I was 15 years old. She was a knitwear designer back in the ’80s, during the apartheid era. Unfortunately, that limited her growth.
“With this background and upbringing, life was tough. But because I had a strong mother who was an entrepreneur, I managed to overcome many challenges. I grew up reading Italian fashion magazines, which inspired me with the determination to one day open a fashion brand that would be as innovative and credible as the ones I read about.
“I started making knitwear for three clients while in high school. My initial target audience were amakwrala (Xhosa initiates).
“Knitwear design is the art form I’ve chosen to make social commentary. In 2010, I launched MaXhosa while completing my four-year BTech degree in textile design at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth. I wanted to create a modern collection for initiates, who have to wear new formal clothing for six months after their initiation into manhood. They didn’t have many options that were culturally relevant for them. MaXhosa by Laduma also has a homeware range.”
NO PLAN B
“I have never worked anywhere. Making knitwear is all I’ve done since I was 15 years old. With my late mother having been a textile designer, it became my career choice in the fashion industry. Now I’m a specialist. My career started as part of a fourth-year project I had to complete at NMMU. I based the assignment on coming up with an innovative textile that’s made locally. I named the label MaXhosa because I felt that there was a world, a galaxy, that was yet to be uncovered. I wanted to create a Xhosa utopian scene that even Xhosa people had never seen before. I wanted to tell the stories of Xhosa people through fashion.”
GOING GLOBAL
“I initially sourced the first design motifs from traditional Xhosa beadwork, which I saw in anthropology books and at local museums.
“My work entails taking pictures of beadwork and redrawing those patterns, modifying them according to whatever theme I decide to go with for a specific season – and I make designs from that. I create my own patterns, design my own fabrics and have my own exclusive colour combinations. I focus my marketing mainly on digital platforms as it’s the most cost-effective way to do so.
“Remaining authentic has helped me to attract media looking for inspiring stories. My digital presence has made it easy for them to access me and has helped to me propel me forward. I’m fortunate that MaXhosa has enjoyed great public recognition since it started. I was asked to speak at the 2011 Design Indaba expo in Cape Town. This increased my profile in the innovative fashion scene even more.”
HIGHS AND LOWS
“The greatest challenge to date is production. South Africa has a very slow clothing and textile production capacity compared to other developed nations. That affects my finances for the business. I can outsource from other countries, but I choose not to – because we have a product that’s deeply connected to our national pride. So, it’s important to me that we produce locally. To overcome this hurdle, I plan on producing my clothing in-house to help us gain control of delivery dates and quality, and realise more design possibilities.”
TAKING OVER THE WORLD
“Travel has changed my life in a huge way. I’m able to improve every season because I travel to many of different countries, which exposes me to what consumers are buying and to what their needs are. It also shows me what’s missing in South Africa.
“I love Japan because I love technology, nature, colour and a neat environment. I plan on expanding MaXhosa’s presence by opening offices or showrooms in other countries. I also plan to venture into the knitwear production business and to move into a lifestyle space in order to offer an experience beyond the physical product. I see MaXhosa going into the hospitality and food business as well.”