when it comes to knitwear, Laduma Ngxokolo is the name.
Laduma’s unique designs have been spotted on international and local A-listers, including Alicia Keys, John and Athandwa Kani, Swizz Beatz and Beyoncé. What makes his work standout though is that his knitwear is a uniquely African heritage Luxury fashion brand.
He’s garnered accolades from across the fashion world for his striking knitwear with Xhosa-inspired geometric patterns and he recently returned home from New York Fashion Week where he showcased his latest collection, We are Kings and Queens.
“New York fashion Week was an unforgettable and thrilling experience. We’re now competing on global scale and it affirmed that our standards are international standard” he says.
Design runs in his blood, thanks to his late mom and older sister’s influences. Both are designers and they, together with his love of culture, have been his greatest inspirations.
“Design and fashion were part of my upbringing. I grew up in a household where we were allowed to be creative and free. It’s something that was part of my daily life. Even in high school I took art as a subject, before studying textiles at Nelson Mandela University,” he says.
His next project is an initiative to help young aspiring entrepreneurs in his home province, the Eastern Cape. “This is an idea of lifting as you rise, because unemployment in the province is very high,” he says.
“It’s a small step in getting creative entrepreneurs to empower themselves to put their brands out there, and it’ll help to impart some of the knowledge I received during my personal and professional growth.”