Future will see clothing and technology stitched together: MaXhosa Africa designer Laduma Ngxokolo

Award-winning fashion designer and entrepreneur Laduma Ngxokolo believes clothing will be intertwined with technology in the future.

The internationally recognised fashion designer, who is celebrated across the country, is known for his MaXhosa Africa knitwear which embraces original Xhosa prints.

Ngxokolo, who has stores in Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and New York, said adapting to new technology plays a big part in his brand.

“According to assumptions, in the next few years people are not going to wear clothes. People are going to wear technology-functional clothing and therefore science is part of what we do to give customers clothes that have many functions beyond covering the body,” he said.

Ngxokolo was part of an Information and Communications Technology Summit held at the East London ICC last week.. The summit was aimed at unpacking challenges and finding ways to address the transition to a digital technology.

The chief creative director, whose brand has become an international sensation, said his passion for knitting passed down through his family has been a key element in his work.

Ngxokolo said as an international brand, his company had to leverage digital resources to enhance its growth.

He pursued a master’s degree at Saint Martin University abroad in his quest to understand technology and its applications in his field.

“I wanted to learn more about technology. I chose a course in material futures. You learn how to design clothes [for the future],” he said.

After completing his master’s, he moved back to SA to push his business.

“I went to several financial institutions wanting funding for the business. Unfortunately there was no security I could offer.

“I then approached the Nelson Mandela University’s innovation and technology department. The first action they took was to transfer my IP [intellectual property] to my private company and I was incubated for about a year and a half. After a year, I [adopted] a technological system to ensure I make my design process as easy as possible.”

Ngxokolo said technology played an influential role in uplifting his brand’s name.

“I realised the digital age was coming. I joined Facebook and that was the platform I used to connect to our customers.

“I had to use my digital platforms to get the brand to connect directly with our customers.”

MaXhosa has more than 300,000 followers on Instagram, which he also uses to showcase his brand.

He said he was branching out to other opportunities, including homeware.

“We have established a partnership with Tile Africa, a pioneer of tiles in SA.”

The collaboration has resulted in a tile range which is a modular mosaic design made up of MaXhosa Africa’s geometric motifs, designed for vertical decorative application.

With luxury sales experiencing a “bit of a dip”, Ngxokolo has his eyes firmly fixed on leveraging developments in technology to expand his business.

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