Fashion in Motion at the V&A features Thebe Magugu

The Victoria & Albert Museum in London is launching Fashion in Motion, supported by Libbie Scher Mugrabi, presenting a series of live fashion shows featuring leading fashion designers from across the world. 

First to present will be South African Thebe Magugu.  There will be four free fashion shows at 13:00, 15:00, 17:00 and 20:00 on Friday 7 October in the Raphael Court.  Limited tickets will be available on the V&A website from 29 September at 10.00. Booking is essential.

This Fashion in Motion takes place during the Africa Fashion exhibition, which displays a key look from Magugu’s Autumn/Winter 2021 collection, Alchemy.

This will be Thebe Magugu's first fashion show outside of Johannesburg, showcasing highlights from his collection 'Discard Theory', inspired by fabrics discarded by Europe and America.

Magugu, who combines traditional African silhouettes with western styles and graphics, describes the collection as "trickle-up fashion," as he seeks to invert the theory of "trickle-down" luxury, which depicts fashion as a hierarchal and class-based industry.

Magugu created 25 looks in this Fashion in Motion series, after visiting Dunuza – a well-known site in Johannesburg for secondhand clothes discarded by Europe and America. Working with luxury ready-to-wear collections, across womenswear and accessories, his designs interweave African motifs, craft and silhouettes to create vibrant and celebratory looks exploring the history, culture, and politics of Africa.

Magugu said in a statement: "For this collection, I thought about national identity politics, and how western influence has penetrated indigenous dress. Often, I see a woman in downtown Johannesburg wearing a shweshwe wrap skirt, a fabric often worn for traditional ceremonies, but paired with a Vodaphone or Manchester United tee."

This summer. following the launch of its mainline tennis collection in August, Adidas partnered with Thebe Magugu for a new Tennis range.

The Adidas x Thebe Magugu collection celebrates culture, heritage and inclusivity through a range of apparel pieces and footwear featuring unisex styles, gender-neutral pieces and inclusive sizing. The collection also features Unitefit technology, created and tested on a range of sizes and genders, offering "a comfortable gender-neutral fit".  In terms of sustainability credentials, the apparel collection features the Unisex Tee and Unisex Short in Made with Nature fabrication, and all men’s styles are Made with Nature. The rest of the collection is also made in part with recycled materials, including the Avacourt shoe.