Inside MaXhosa Africa’s historic Paris runway show

The South African fashion house MaXhosa Africa made history after successfully pulling off its first-ever full runway show on the world’s biggest fashion calendar.

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Opening Paris Fashion Week, MaXhosa Africa debuted a new vibrant knitwear collection featuring 54 looks intended to celebrate and highlight African crafts and creativity.

Statement pieces on the runway

The fashion house has been intentional about representing African talent on the world stage and has affirmed that Africa can produce luxury. To honour his first runway show on a very prestigious stage, the brand’s founder, Laduma Ngxokolo, created a line that is bold, loud, and authentic to who he is as a designer.

Two impactful pieces were showcased on the runway: the first was a wool dress emblazoned with the names of the continent’s countries. The second piece was a black-and-grey outfit with a large outline of the African continent on the front, and the other continents featured on the back and sleeves.

The piece is a monumental nod to the recent verdict from the United Nations Assembly to adopt the Equal Earth Map, which depicts the accurate size of the continents.

Also see: Sjava to make history alongside MaXhosa Africa at Paris Fashion Week

Authentically showing up on the global stage

In an interview with The Haute Couture Federation, Laduma was asked how he ensures he protects the independent perspective he’s held to keep the brand authentic to the African perspective and not more readable to Western culture as the brand grows internationally.

The global designer explained that he is not trying to be less African to become more global.

“The ambition is global luxury from Africa, allowing our culture and our perspective to exist on the global stage on their own terms,” he shared.

Showcasing African unity

MaXhosa Africa is known for its Afrocentric perspectives, and this historic achievement was a moment to continue that legacy. For his debut on the Paris Fashion Week schedule, the designer featured Sjava as a musical performer to provide live musical accompaniment for his runway show.

The designer also used sustainable accessories from Kenyan artist Cyrus Kabiru to style the looks that were showcased.

Also see: Maglera Doe Boy and MaXhosa celebrate another collaboration