Thread Of Life

AT AGE 15, HIS MOTHER TAUGHT HIM HOW TO SEW AND MACHINE-KNIT; HE THEN USED THOSE SKILLS TO PUT HIMSELF THROUGH UNIVERSITY. NOW, LADUMA NGXOKOLO IS AN AWARD-WINNING DESIGNER WHOSE WORK IS SEEN ON CATWALKS FROM PARIS TO OSLO – AND HE’S WORKING TO INSPIRE OTHERS TO DO THE SAME.

- Jazz Kuschke

“Aim high – ridiculously high,” says knitwear designer Laduma Ngxokolo, whose Xhosa-inspired knitwear brand, MaXhosa by Laduma, is receiving ever-increasing international acclaim. “Even if you achieve half of that, you will have made something quantifiable. Many people aim way too low, thinking that whatever they’re aiming for will make them fulfilled.”

Ngxokolo wears success well. It fits him like the spectacularly distinctive X-themed designs of his jerseys. But it wasn’t always this way; like many successful South African entrepreneurs, he comes from an underprivileged background, and launched his brand with limited access to resources.

“My late mother was a knitwear designer, based in Port Elizabeth,” he explains. “She had a very small clientele, and my older sister – who was far more interested in fashion then me, back then – used to help her.”

When Ngxokolo was 15 he got involved too, and his mother taught him to machine-knit. He never looked back, going on to craft his own clothes when he was ikrwala (a Xhosa initiate). In fact, this was a major stepping stone in the launch of his brand.

“From an entrepreneurial perspective the actual, practical ‘making’ of the knitwear was very important to me; because after my mother passed away, my siblings and I had to hustle – we had very limited means of income, and this became something of a staple,” he says.