Meet the reluctant Afro chic designer guru

ACCLAIMED knitwear designer Laduma Ngxokolo – one of Port Elizabeth's most celebrated young exports – is back home this week to present his range of men's and women's clothing at a pop-up beachfront boutique.

He launched a women's range of knitwear at SA Fashion Week in April and has since visited Norway, Holland and Germany showing his MaXhosa by Laduma designs.

He and his sister Tina – a Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University fashion design graduate – will exhibit their garments at HavanaBlu at McArthur Baths in Humewood tomorrow night before the pop-up shop opens to the public from 1-5pm on Friday and Saturday.

He has opted for the pop-up concept rather than a ramp show as "I've never seen fashion shows working in Port Elizabeth, so I decided rather to have an exhibition where people can look at the clothes and items".

Ngxokolo was speaking during an interview this week over coffee at La Boca in Central.

With TV presenter Siyabonga Ngwekazi as MC, the evening will highlight Ngxokolo designs such as a woollen rug, a cellphone cover and an African potjie.

Ngxokolo said SABC3 lifestyle show Top Billing  had approached him to present his story and filmed him at his home in KwaDwesi, at his Cape Town manufacturing base, and on a recent visit to Germany.

The show will be in Port Elizabeth this week at the university, where he studied, and will complete the insert at the exhibition.

The MaXhosa by Laduma range and the Buyel'embo Collection have been major hits this year nationally and internationally.

Buyel'embo is a Xhosa word often uttered by elders when reminiscing about the rural lifestyle in the oldest days, he says.

But in Europe, he says, "I try to avoid being classified as an African designer".

That label, he believes, pigeonholes fashion brands and he would like to remain open to a wider audience.

"My sister and I went to Amsterdam in May,'' he says.

"We had brought about 50 pieces just in case people were interested and we sold 45 of them.

"These garments are items that you can wear every day."

Although Ngxokolo only sells MaXhosa by Laduma at boutiques and not in chain stores, Tina will take orders in Port Elizabeth.

You magazine fashion editor, Chu Suwannapha, is often spotted wearing Ngxokolo's MaXhosa by Laduma cardigans.

Musician Zakes Bantwini is another fan. - Gillian McAinsh

• Entrance is free. More information can be obtained from lihle@ maxhosa.co.za