Today, I researched a fashion designer Thebe Magugu who has been kept spearheading the South African Culture to the world. I will take a good look at his colour pattern using and be more familiar with how to incorporate the African style into this model fashion trend so as to get some ideas for my own designs.
Thebe Magugu is a young designer who growing up in small-town Kimberley of South Africa, he always dreams about the outside of the world when he was a child, he usually spent time laying in front of the television and watching the runway show broadcast from New York and Paris, did the sketch and watched the fashion magazine, this becomes the reason that leads him to be one of the fashion industry. After a few years later, he moved to Johannesburg and study fashion design, fashion photography and fashion media at the Randburg fashion design school LISOF. Then, Magugu started to get the job with an internship and consulted with a variety of brands, fashion institutions and stores after earning the best college collection. Finally, he started a career and build up his own fashion label in 2018.
Due to the fact of his rich native culture, base on the influence of lots of beadwork, crafts... he wants to create clothes that combined the South African heritage with modern shapes and proportions, reflect an actual authentic Africa to the world. So it can be seen, most of his influential ideas are around his daily life and self-identity, also especially the life habit of his childhood. He was surrounded by women as a child: his mother, aunts and grandmother, their ideas about style also influenced his own journey in fashion, that's the reason why he aims to create practical and magnetical clothing for people.
"I don't necessarily design with a type of woman in mind; my clothes could look good on someone young or old. My primary concern is to design clothes that make women feel beautiful but that are also functional." (CNN, 2021)
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According to this interview at Somerset House, I think that we both have a similar purpose and target group for the collection, there is no deliberate specific tailored to design for a set of ages. Magugu hopes his design can look good and fashionable whether young or old they are. Concurrently, my target market group is 18 to 40 years old, whether student, those who work at a high-stress job outside the home and even housewives. As I had mentioned above, we both are targeting women streetwear clothing, considering the main purpose of design is to let them feel comfortable. This definitely is a good start of looking at his designs, so that I can study from his collection of using what clothing form to express those elements: dresses, sweater, coat or others, it really benefits of having a deep observe.
Comparing with other African fashion designers, I think Magugu mostly used subduced colour to create his collection, his overall design doesn't use too many sharp colours, which just give out a sense of elegance and commanding with the style. I also observed that he might be more focused on the pleating and printing, and I like the way how he matching everything together. Although he used tie-dye, strips and even repeating patterns to be the main material fabric, the overall effect is not cumbersome, plus the coupled with the distinctive tailoring, which presented a double visual enjoyment for the audience. It can be seen he cleverly combined with the African elements, the traditional overlapping clothing with shawls and tassels that all expressing their local culture.
However, Magugu's design is chiefly around with suit and shirt, the dressing style is more mature and smart casual, they all are fashionable but coupled with the wearing method is not convenient enough. I really like his fabric colour printing so I maybe will incorporate this concept into my design but I still have to consider the cutting and clothing form. Overall, Magugu's avant-garde and bold designs have really broken out of Africa's original idealistic fashions, that's the reason why he deserves to be the winner of LVMH and become a famous designer as he is just 27 years old.
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Appel, R. Thebe Magugu: ‘I come from a very rich culture’. [Online] CNN. Available from : https://www.cnn.com/style/article/thebe-magugu-london-fashion-week/index.html [Accessed 25/04/21].
Praise from the president for Thebe Magugu’s wow debut on Paris catwalk. (2020) [Online] The South African. Available from : https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/ramaphosa-thebe-magugu-paris-fashion-week-wow-debut-2020/ [Accessed 25/04/21].
THEBE MAGUGU. [Online] LVMH PRIZE. Available from : https://www.lvmhprize.com/designer/thebe-magugu/ [Accessed 25/04/21].
International Fashion Spotlight: South African Label Thebe Magugu. (2021) [Online] Tom + Lorenzo. Available from : https://tomandlorenzo.com/2021/03/international-fashion-spotlight-south-african-label-thebe-magugu/ [Accessed 25/04/21].
Thebe Magugu: Ready-to-wear AW21. (2021) [Online] 10 Magazine. Available from : https://www.10magazine.com/womenswear/thebe-magugu-ready-to-wear-aw21/ [Accessed 25/04/21].
Nnadi, C. South African Designer Thebe Magugu Has Found His Voice—And The Fashion World Is Listening. [Online] Vogue. Available from : https://www.vogue.com/article/designer-thebe-magugu-heritage-inspiration [Accessed 25/04/21].
His Spring 2021 collection you have featured here is extraordinary - love the use of odd materials, really powerful and dynamic designs. Start showing how your drawing process is going (follow up from the 10 drafts post).
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