Laduma never imagined that his first flight out of South Africa would be to represent his country at the grand finale of an international student fashion design competition. He never anticipated winning such a contest. He never imagined being honoured with multiple awards at home and around the world. He never imagined that his designs would be included in pedagogical curriculums of all levels, or that they would be used for research in countless post graduate studies around the world. He never imagined that his work would be collected by local and international museums. He had no idea that he would come across people who desired to be dressed in his work when they got buried some day, or that his work would be endorsed by local and international stars. He never knew that his passion would be a full time career for his three siblings, and twenty-six other people. And he never knew that his garments would be a source of pride and joy for people of all types, across ethnic and national boundaries. But his work has done all this, and much more.
Laduma Ngxokolo is one of Africa's finest knitwear designers, and creator of the Xhosa inspired knitwear brand MaXhosa By Laduma. He has received numerous awards locally and globally, including the 2015 Vogue Italia Scouting for Africa prize, and the 2014 WeTransfer scholarship. New African Magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential Africans of 2017. His work has captured the hearts of fashion lovers from South Africa, to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Oslo, Berlin and New York. Laduma uses his work as a means to push traditional African culture into the future. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx