Like any 13-year-old, South African label Maxhosa Africa is growing up — fast.
It’s not a process without growing pains, as creative director Laduma Ngxokolo put it.
Take having the entire spring collection stuck in customs in Frankfurt airport until the morning of the brand’s sophomore Paris presentation, for one.
Still, he had plenty of reasons to rejoice, starting with the full house at the American Church in Paris to see his signature knitwear, which samples Xhosa heritage as well as a broader range of cultures from across the continent.
It was full of office-ready dresses with hems just begging to dance; polo shirts and shorts that were zesty and smart for women as well as men, and tunic tops that felt perfect for layering or wearing as minidresses, particularly with brightly hued Maxhosa tights.
Between the pastel palette, meant to attract “people that are scared to be ambushed by color,” he quipped, and a loose, more casual silhouette nodding to the brand’s increasingly younger customer, the moment had new era energy.
“We feel like we are in a rebirth stage as a brand [and] as a medium-sized business that is scaling up to become a big company one day,” he said.
While the bulk of the business remains ready-to-wear for now, the 13-year-old brand first expanded into homeware and furniture, kidswear and, as of spring 2025, fine jewelry.
Priced between $800 and up to $20,000, the Made in South Africa designs in 18-karat rose gold with diamonds were peppered throughout the spring looks.
South Africa continues to represent 90 percent of its business with seven stores, but the U.S. has grown in less than a year to around 8 percent, with a faster pace since the opening of its New York City flagship in June.
Dubai has also emerged as a market full of potential, despite its current modest size. A ninth Maxhosa store is also in the works, this time entirely dedicated to its home line.
“There are challenges to being on the other side of the world,” Ngxokolo said. “But they are making us stronger [by] giving us opportunities to innovate and also carve our own way into getting into platforms that would create the confidence for other African partners to come and do the same as well.”
