Photo of Staff Bona

Thebe Magugu’s Folklorics collection featured in Met exhibition

2y 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.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

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

ENTERTAINMENT

Heritage Month cinema: South Africa’s landmark films

Every year, Heritage Month invites South Africans to reflect on the diverse cultural, historical, and narrative threads that weave our national identity together. Also see: WHY REWATCHING COMFORT SHOWS HAS BECOME POPULAR While music, food, and traditional attire often take centre stage during national celebrations, cinema remains one of the most powerful mediums for preserving […]

Read more...
FASHION AND BEAUTY

Why local heritage ingredients are taking over the beauty industry

The global skincare narrative is undergoing a major transformation. For decades, Western European active ingredients, Swiss lab-synthesised peptides, and East Asian beauty rituals dominated vanity shelves worldwide. Also see: EASY BEAUTY HABITS THAT SAVE YOU MONEY Today, luxury formulation laboratories from Paris to New York are turning their gaze toward Africa’s hyper-resilient flora. From marula […]

Read more...
CELEBRITIES

‘I may have to close’: Ntsiki Mazwai shares emotional update on Moya podcast

The future of Moya podcast has been thrown into uncertainty after Ntsiki Mazwai opened up about the financial challenges of keeping the platform’s content going. Also see: Ntsiki Mazwai opens up about Malaria scare In an emotional message shared with supporters, Ntsiki admitted that continuing to fund the podcast has become increasingly difficult. ‘I may […]

Read more...