Laduma Ngxokolo is a well-known fashion design heavyweight in the country and abroad, he is part of the new wave of Mzansi creatives who have won the hearts of many fashionistas in South Africa country and internationally. The fashion designer has a deep respect for his Xhosa culture and you can see it on his work, he is able to visually translate the Xhosa custom and language in world-class designs.
Social commentator, Kgopolo Mphela, shared the news of this unknown designer this morning and immediately, tweeps thought it was about MaXhosa but upon closer inspection, the designs belonged to Ephymol a brand by Ephraim Molingoana.
"FASHION: Designer Ephraim Molingoana showcase Ephymol, Molingoana’s menswear label, showcased its latest collection at SA Fashion Week 102020 over the weekend. #KgopoloReports"
Back in 2018, a similar incident occurred when International retailer Zara, eventually had to respect public demands after public outrage for allegedly copying South Africa’s Laduma Ngxokolo’s signature diamond-shaped design. Zara's new sock range closely resembled MaXhosa by Laduma’s Khanyisa range of cardigans and socks and was removed from Zara’s stores (including its online platform) soon afterwards.
Tweeps have since weighed in their opinions about the relatively unknown designer.
"Hmmm. And it’s not to say nobody else is allowed to do prints. But there is a very specific look and feel when you think of Maxhosa and some of these are strikingly similar. I wonder how this will turn out."
"We once had a conversation about shapes and patterns not belonging to Maxhosa,
And if another person is using them why is it seen as copying? He just used shapes and patterns and not really copied him"
"The only difference here is Maxhosa has incredible knitwear and is more luxury. This looks to be just “printed” - but it’s the same thing, same silhouettes, same colors, patterns"
"Ephymol has always been big with prints, and he’s been dining tribal prints way before MaXhosa... Ga gona Forrester vs. Spectra"
It seems that the poor designer has always been around, way before MaXhosa made it big, doing similar work...well that is according to one tweep. But a majority of fans are certain that this is another Zara saga and Maxhosa will deal with it the same way as before...issue legal action.
MaXhosa has international clients that love his signature designs like Beyonce, Swizz Beats and our very own Black Coffee, we wouldn't want to see him lose those clients to Ephymol.
We sure hope it doesn't come to that, do you think this is a copy and paste?
