Thebe Magugu’s Folklorics collection featured in Met exhibition

by Staff Bona

South Africa’s darling of fashion Thebe Magugu must have been shouting from the rooftops after his collection was chosen, among others, to be exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, just in time for the prestigious Met Gala.

Interestingly, this is the fourth time the brand has been featured in a Met exhibition. The Spring 2024 exhibition, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, features a look from Thebe’s AW23 Folklorics collection.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the fashion creative explained the inspiration behind the ensemble: “The print depicts a shipwreck in progress, which is mimicked in the space through a video by SHOWstudio depicting a raging sea: This becomes The Met’s 4th Thebe Magugu acquisition for their permanent archive.”

The fashion designer’s third instalment from his Heritage Capsule explores Lobola, a centuries-old negotiation process in anticipation of eventual marriage.

Thebe enlisted 18 South African leaders to front the campaign, each excelling in their fields of expertise, including Ama Qamata, Anele Mdoda and Boity Thulo.

 

 

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A post shared by Thebe Magugu (@thebemagugu)

Described as tradition meets high fashion, the Lobola Dress retails for about R14,500.

Upon release of the capsule collection, Thebe wrote: “Exclusive to British Vogue, this instalment explores ‘Lobola,’ which is a centuries-old negotiation process in anticipation of eventual marriage, where the family of the groom approaches the family of the bride with an offer – traditionally cattle, contemporarily money – in ‘exchange’ for the bride herself.

“This is meant to be symbolic rather than ownership, and the exact margins of this practice change from culture to culture,” the brand wrote in an Instagram post.”

Words: Fame Frenzy