Thebe Magugu is an award- winning 31-year-old creative director and designer based in Johannesburg, known for his powerful use of fashion as a vehicle for storytelling and education.

Thebe Magugu studied Fashion Design, Fashion Photography and Fashion Media, which are 3 disciplines that play a very important role in his universe building. He opened his namesake label-THEBE MAGUGU- in2016. The main premise of the brand is to be afro-encyclopaedic - capturing key histories, peoples and cultures that run the risk of being forgotten, but forever immortalised through the power of cloth. Each of his collections are named after associating university subjects (Past collections include Geology, home Economics, gender studies, African Studies, Prosopography, Counter intelligence, Alchemy, Double Think, Genealogy, Discard Theory, Folklorics and most recently Reparations).

Thebe Magugu, renowned for winning the International Fashion Showcase 2019 with the British Fashion Council and the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) Grand Prize 2019, also curates a magazine journal called FACULTY PRESS. This publication is dedicated to showcasing emerging African talent and serves as a platform for vital discussions on politics, race, identity, and other issues pertinent to the African continent.

Thebe Magugu’s first concept store titled Magugu House, opened in 2024, has been named in TIME Magazine’s list of ‘The Greatest Places in The World’.

‘Thebe Magugu is at the heart of South Africa’s Cultural Renaissance’

-VOGUE MAGAZINE

‘He is a designer making personal clothes with Political Messages’

-NEW YORK TIMES