What South Africa's Thebe Magugu Is Doing Differently

Thebe Magugu is arguably one of the global fashion industry’s darlings to have emerged from Africa–and there’s a lot. Founded by Thebe Magugu, the eponymous label has seamlessly burrowed its name into the lips of highly recognised persons in fashion.

A Little Backstory

Originally from Kimberley, Northern Cape in South Africa, but based in Johannesburg, the now 31-year-old designer has carved a name for himself, through high-flying achievements in his repertoire. Notable to these achievements, is his emerging as the first African designer to win the highly coveted LVMH prize awards in 2019.

Thebe Magugu had initially applied to Central Saint Martin for its BA Fashion Design course, but was turned down. This redirected him to apply to a fashion school, London International School of Fashion, LISOF (now Stadio Higher Education), in his home country.

In 2016, he started his eponymous label, and released an SS/17 collection, which he dubbed Geology. “GEOLOGY" is my debut collection, inspired by – on a macro scale - the idea of fleeing the noise & pressures of urban living & on a micro scale, a cry for help,’ he says.

Since then, the designer has released Spring Summer collections that are often relics of his past and his experiences as a South African designer, including Home Economics, Art History, Prosopography, Counter Intelligence, Genealogy (my favourite so far), and Discard Theory. Each of these collections has African historical elements embedded in them, a typical Thebe Magugu ethos.

Why Should You Care?

To be honest, you should care because the innovators and influencers of the global fashion industry do. In 2019, Magugu was announced as the winner of the International Fashion Showcase by the British Fashion Council. Around the same time, he won the year-long mentorship and 300,000 euros that comes with being the first African designer to win the LVMH prize awards. 

He’s also made debut shows in global fashion week platforms like Paris Fashion Week, and collaborated with Drover Street Market to release his first menswear line. In 2022, he was enlisted by the AZ Factory, a brand under Israeli fashion designer Alber Elbaz and Swiss fashion house Richemont, to work on the Amigos clothing line. Same year, he collaborated with Adidas for the Finding Beauty local sportswear collection.

Thebe Magugu has also appeared in the widely known Designer Swap special feature put together by American Vogue, where he swapped with Pierpaolo Piccioli of Valentino. His Discard Theory collection made it to the V&A Museum as part of London Fashion week, and a few of his pieces also exhibited during the V&A Museum African Fashion, last year. Also worthy to note that personalities like Michelle Obama, Lupita Nyong’o, and a few others have been seen in his clothes.