The partnership traces back almost a decade, to when Woolworths first worked with Magugu through its Style by SA platform in 2017, a defining early moment in his career. Since then, Magugu has gone on to become the first African designer to win the prestigious LVMH Young Designer Prize in 2019, open his own permanent retail space, Magugu House, in Johannesburg, and see his work featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.
True to form, Magugu drew on his own heritage for the collection, channelling his Sotho ancestry through hand-drawn, abstract motifs inspired by the African landscape.
"I love the idea of these clothes being open to interpretation like that, but you can also very much see bits of who we are," Magugu explained at the launch. "We all go home for Christmas, and we all have these scenes in our heads that I wanted to evoke through the collection, but I wanted to also showcase the nuance and sophistication of us."
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"Lineage" is available in selected Woolworths stores nationwide and online, just in time for South Africans to shop ahead of Heritage Day on September 24, a fitting tribute to a designer whose entire career has been built on celebrating and reinterpreting South African culture.
