War of the words: Thebe Magugu uses fashion to fight corruption

When it comes to men’s fashion, Pitti Uomo has always been the home of style and SA’s Kimberley-born gem is waving the flag in Italy for the esteemed fashion event’s 100th year celebration. Magugu, who has won over fans with his womenswear collections from SA to Paris Fashion Week, will debut his first men’s wear pieces to Pitti’s eager crowds.

With Magugu describing his collections as playing the role of a South African encyclopedia, he often takes inspiration from a varying number of sources.

Corruption in style

Magugu’s collection looks at corruption and the whistle-blowers who challenge it in SA.  Keeping in theme with his academic approach to fashion, Magugu was inspired by Mandy Wiener’s The Whistleblowers which tells the stories of South Africans who have taken the brave step as informants exposing fraud.

A refreshing collaboration

While designers often look to artists and other creatives as collaborators, Magugu has collaborated with local newspaper Daily Maverick 168 in a special edition of the publication’s Friday issue. The issue featured a number of journalists who have spoken out about corruption with Magugu’s look book weaving between their columns and pieces.

Back to 1984

George Orwell was a huge inspiration for the collection which is titled Doublethink, a concept in his dystopian novel 1984. Doublethink refers to someone being expected to accept two contradictory beliefs as correct.

“Corrupt politicians are conscious of the truth, while telling carefully constructed lies — the art of knowing and not knowing,” Magugu said in a statement from his Daily Maverick issue.

Wild, wild western

Sticking to the film orientated inspiration from his previous collections, the flick for Magugu’s men’s wear collection is titled Bashimane A Bosigo (Ultimate Midnight Cowboys) and features a number of local models as gun-slinging cowboys in their symbolic black and white hats.

All new crests

The sisterhood crest has become the most memorable feature of Magugu’s designs but for this collection, Magugu included a new TM logo which can be seen in his first men’s wear shoes and the print on a number of the pieces.

Satirical swagger

Famed for his thought provoking creations, cartoonist Jonathan Zapiro was tapped by the award-winning designer to feature some of his notable works embedded in the print of the collection. Magugu used cartoons from SA Body Politic and Zuma Must Fall which feature drawings that keep with the anti-corruption theme. These can be seen in a panelled shirt with hyena spots done as blood splatters, a two-piece linen suit in monochromatic colours and a boxy cut jacket with matching denim trousers.

Magugu’s  Daily Maverick edition came out on July 2.