THEBE MAGUGU

WINNER of 2019’S LVMH PRIZE, THIS SOUTH AFRICAN DESIGNER’S CREATIONS ARE a WINDOW into CULTURE, CRAFT, HISTORY and HUMAN RIGHTS

- ANDREA SIM

Thebe Magugu has always been drawn to storytelling. Growing up in Kimberley, South Africa, he spent his free time writing, taking pictures and sketching. With a little enterprising streak, he turned his love for expressive mediums into a fashion and art magazine (self-published, out of his mother’s office) which he sold at school for a price of R20. The kernel of Magugu’s clothing today — a fine equation of fluid yet strong silhouettes, unabashed hues, vibrant prints and experimental deconstruction — doesn’t fall far from the tree. “I always start the collection with a facet of African or South African history I would like to explore,” says the designer, who is now based out of Johannesburg. “It is with this that I hope my clothes aren’t just beautiful, but inform people about a reality, a character, a circumstance they might not have known.”