Fashion Week Brooklyn selected 2 designers last year to show on the runway in New York for their annual fashion show. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University graduate Laduma Ngxokolo was one of the designers chosen to show his collection Buyel’mbo from his range “MaXhosa by Laduma”.
You can see more of his collections, blog + press here. National School of the Arts + London School of Fashion graduate Thula Sindi was the second South African designer selected to show his line. You can order his Spring/Summer designs featured on the runway here. Both designers did the country proud, receiving much press + praise! Read a brief background on Laduma here + on Thula here. I am the South African ambassador for Fashion Week Brooklyn + was part of the selection process. I am currently scouting for this year’s designers! One of our chosen designers is Ferial Johannes, from FCM in Cape Town! More on her here.
LADUMA
Now based in London, it’s awesome to see this brilliant PE-born designer has a community of over 12,000 followers! For a collage of images showcasing how Laduma’s line “MaXhosa” is being spoken about on Instagram, click here (note: some awesome Elle magazine covers!). He’s dressed celebrities, been featured in top magazines, given talks on design + even come up with a cute range of socks! He’s innovative + definitely thinks out the box. I love this fashion film below produced by the VCG called “MaXhosa by Laduma: My Heritage, My Inheritance”. It gives such a nice insight into his inspiration as a designer.
The late Top Billing presenter Simba Mhere also interviewed him in Berlin. It’s so special to meet his family + learn about how his passion for knitwear began:
THULA
With a community of 50,000 followers, we can all agree that Thula is also proud ambassador for our country! He’s done tons of runway shows + editorials. He’s dressed celebrities at swanky events + his clothes dressed the Top 5 of the recent Miss South Africa competition. A story I loved following was when he was asked by Yves Saint Laurent to design an outfit for the Elle SA Style Awards 2014. He drew on the palette named after “Afrique”, the collection Yves Saint Laurent based on Africa and presented to the public in 1967. This year marked a mini revolution in fashion – with straw skirts + dresses, colourful patterns + geometrical shapes.
He played with a tightly corseted top with a fringed peplum over a pencil skirt, fringed at the hem. The palette featured light bronze hues, shimmering desert peach and brown, all of which featured in Sindi’s inspired design.
For photographs of his collection as it appeared on the runway at Fashion Week Brooklyn, click here.
Do you have what it takes?
We are now looking for South African designers for this year’s Fashion Week Brooklyn show! As you can see, it’s no easy feat to be selected + we certainly need passion, drive + a strong brand! Do you believe in yourself? Do you have your Fall/Winter collection ready? Contact me for application forms!
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