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Top Billing celebrates Laduma Ngxokolos latest Maxhosa development
Top Billing celebrates Laduma Ngxokolo's latest Maxhosa development
Proudly South African Laduma Ngxokolo launches Maxhosa’s new pop-up boutique and website, continuing his influence on world fashion with his trend-setting, Xhosa design.
An unashamed favourite of this show and of the whole country, Laduma Ngxokolo has done wonders for African fashion. Simba saw his impact on his hometown mohair industry,Top Billing was with him at Berlin Fashion Week and this week we bring you the launch of his pop-up boutique and website - a chronicle of MAXHOSA and its evolution into Africa’s lifestyle brand.
It is four years since we were the first to cover Laduma’s international showcase in Germany. Time in which he has become a major driver of our wool, mohair, textile and design industries. So when we heard he was launching something new we knew we had to be there.
The roots of MAXHOSA were an inspiration from Xhosa beadworks, which Laduma modified into modern knitwear. His current range retains that authenticity while drawing on many, new influences.
From the hand-operated machine on which he first translated design to fabric, the process has evolved dramatically. From changing suppliers until he got the right quality, Laduma has created a brand which is synonymous with quality and originality.
From working part-time on the brand when we first met them, Laduma’s siblings are now centrally involved in co-design, management and operations.
The collections change theme every six months and the sophistication of the pattern, cut, fit and finishing makes every piece a collector’s item.
From the time a fifteen year-old Laduma was taught by his mother to knit, to today as MD of an international business employing thirty people, his three siblings have walked with him all the way.
Leading by example, he just opened his second store at Mall of Africa, along with launching the Maxhosa website. He has diversified, won international awards, been endorsed by Alicia Keys, Beyonce and kept evolving.
The quality garments Laduma’s grandfather wore in the fifties were still good in the nineties and his aim is to create work to endure just as long and to pass from one generation to the next.
