The Ascend Label is a popular streetwear fashion brand founded by Nicole Ncube. Many may have recognised this young designer’s clothing brand with its iconic letter A symbol that appears in their clothing items.
The Ascend Label website explains that the purpose and goals of her founding this clothing line was to “rewrite societal norms and expectations, with a range of gender fluid, versatile pieces that can be dressed in multiple ways.”
She further states that her work aims to be inclusive of all individuals, representing the LGBTQI community and supporting women empowerment.
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The Entabeni collaboration is created from a partnership between Ascend Label and Dandelion. The face behind Dandelion is the South African digital content creator who is known for her outfit inspiration ideas and trendy streetwear fashion. The digital content creator is quite influential when it comes to fashion as she has a huge following with nearly 110 000 followers.
Their partnership has birthed a new collection that is inspired by the Xhosa blanket worn by boys who are about to enter the rite of passage to manhood through the initiation school.
The label took to Instagram to announce this collaboration.
“Proud to present Ascend x Dandelion collaboration titled “ENTABENI” which is inspired by a Xhosa blanket that boys wear when they are in the initiation school.”
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Many took to Instagram to share their views:
“Love it but this ain’t gonna end well??,” said a user.
While another expressed disapproval stating that, “You not respecting my culture shem . We fought the Entabeni movie, now it’s this?”
“Ndiyayithanda (I love it) ❤️❤️❤️,” expressed another supporter.
X users also had quite a lot to say:
“Yabona ke apha ndiyavuma not le izaba nonotolo please anangxaki nedesigns zakho bt sibone kakubi kudlalwa ngololuko ngaphambili so Big up mhlekazi (I like this one and do not have a problem with your designs, but we’ve seen a lot of people playing with our initiation custom before).”
“Idesign intle. But hayi ngeke, masihlonipheni isiko lwethu. Ezinye izinto must remain sacred (The design is nice but let us respect our customs. Some things must remain sacred). Yiyo nalento kukho imovie ekuthiwa li Nxeba (that’s why there’s even a movie called Inxeba),” another user expressed.
Proud to present Ascend x Dandelion collaboration titled “ENTABENI” which is inspired by a Xhosa blanket that boys wear when they are in the initiation school #ascendwithoutlimits #entabenicollection pic.twitter.com/K25q6dfADI
— INGA GUBEKA (@ingagubeka) November 28, 2023
