·  The Adidas x Thebe Magugu collection features vibrant and expressive sport and style designs that celebrate community, heritage, and identity, inspired by the South African designer’s upbringing  

·  Powered by Adidas and Thebe’s passion for inclusivity, this function-meets-fashion female collection includes modesty swimwear, inclusive sizing in sizes XL to 4XL, and gender-neutral pieces  

·  Each performance piece in the collection features leading performance technology made in part with recycled materials, with the Tennis garments set to feature world-class players during the most prominent hardcourt tournaments

·  The collection drops on 1 August 2022 at adidas.co.za for adiClub members early access, and 15 August at select Adidas stores

South Africa, 1 August 2022: Today, adidas unveils the first of two drops with South African luxury designer, Thebe Magugu. The debut collection for women features the celebratory and joyful artwork of a woman dancing, designed in collaboration with artist Phathu Nembilwi, and influenced by Thebe’s mother, aunt, and grandmother, and the theme of femininity, interwoven with leading adidas material technology. Each garment features an abstract selection of bright and punchy colors including, impact orange and yellow, accents of shock pink, and backgrounded by pulse lilac. The collection spans sports including Running, Swimming, Training, Tennis, Football, and Cycling alongside a set of casual lifestyle garments. 

United by a shared passion for inclusivity and kinship, the collection includes a three-piece modesty swimwear set made in part with recycled materials and chlorine-resistant fabric that is lightweight and chlorine-resistant swimwear in inclusive sizing (XS-4XL), and gender-neutral pieces with UNITEFIT – a fit system that is created with a spectrum of sizes, genders, and forms in mind.

The high-performance Tennis pieces will be premiered during one of the most prominent hardcourt tournaments by adidas’ inspirational athletes Dana Mathewson, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Felix Auger Aliassime, and Daria Kasatkina who are passionate about showing support for what matters and encouraging diversity and inclusivity on and off the court.  The Tennis collection features the Purple NY UNITEFIT Tennis Dress, delivering style and functionality, made in part with recycled materials.

Alongside the performance pieces, the statement Originals looks include the Originals Crop T-shirt, in white and semi pulse lilac, delivering classic streetwear style, and the Originals 7/8 Leggings. The collaboration also includes remixes of iconic Adidas footwear silhouettes including the Stan Smith, Nizza Platform, Astir, and Forum footwear, which feature design accents from Thebe Magugu’s signature prints. Reflecting Adidas’s commitment to consciously crafting performance materials, hero styles and pieces have also been made in part with recycled materials, one of the innovations that represent our commitment to helping end plastic waste. 

Thebe Magugu, the designer, commented: “I’m infinitely inspired by the energy of the women in my life and the heritage of my native land. Bringing together such personal stories through design and blending them with Adidas iconic performance and lifestyle pieces has been an amazing process. The collection really celebrates all the positive influences around me and a sense of community that is so important to me. I hope it inspires the same joyful feeling in those who wear it.

The Tennis pieces will be worn by world-renowned players during one of the sport’s most iconic tournaments this summer – I am proud to play a small part in championing the sport and helping to make it more inclusive.”

Watch 20-second hero film narrated by Thebe Magugu

Hero pieces within the collection spanning performance and Originals include:

adidas x Thebe Magugu Swim Hijab: The Swim Hijab is made from chlorine-resistant fabric that’s ultra-flat, lightweight and chlorine resistant. It also comes with an adjustable inner cap to ensure hair is kept tucked away and an outer layer that provides full coverage.

adidas x Thebe Magugu Fast Jacket: The Fast Jacket features bold graphic features and a piece of smooth woven fabric with a lightweight feel for fast running and racing. It also has a water-repellent finish to help shrug off light rain. The jacket is made in part with 100% recycled materials Parley Ocean Plastic.

adidas x Thebe Magugu NMD: A true representation of style intersecting with performance. The Originals NMD Trainer mixes top-tier athletic technology with everyday style. Combining street smarts with green credentials, for cafe lounging, daily pavement pounding and gym work, or whichever activity is desired, the NMD is all about holding the pace of the daily grind. 

The second drop of the season in October 2022, features the Thebe Magugu Bird of Paradise plant print that represents the idea of unbridled joy and freedom, which unites with Adidas performance technology such as the boost midsole, in a yoga look alongside the revival of the button-down jogger and statement tee. 

The Adidas x Thebe Magugu Mainline Drop 1 collection will be available from 1 August 2022 for adiClub members early access at adidas.co.za, and to all on 15 August 2022 at Adidas select stores and online. Prices start from R649 – R2499 and sizing from 2XS – 4XL.

“Doublethink” SS22 – the first full menswear collection by Thebe Magugu debuting at PITTI UOMO – looks at corruption in Africa and the whistleblowers who challenge it.

“In many ways, the societal ills the continent wrestles with stem from the insidious actions of its leaders. In South Africa, we have regularised the daily tales of missing millions and economy-controlling families.

These stories become dinner-time anecdotes, which minimizes the devastating ramifications that corruption holds – from increased gaps in education and equality to the mismanagement of public goods and service, which often always morphs into violence. Corruption is a global issue, which defeats the ends of justice and deters a country’s sense of safety and trust. However, some strong individuals have said ‘enough!’ – the brave women and men who have come forward as whistleblowers, who have exposed the level of rot from companies and institutions both private and state”.

Mandy Wiener’s book, “THE WISTLEBLOWERS”, forms part of the collection’s conceptual framework. “Whistleblowers are not celebrated or cast as heroic characters. Instead, they are largely treated as insubordinate, pariahs or troublemakers, wearing the scarlet letter W and unable to find employment. I have chosen to shine a light on the plight of whistleblowers in South Africa, in the hope to advocate for a change in legislation, organisational support and a change in social attitude”.

This started the collection’s strong western influence, which explores the idea of Black Hat Bandits and White Hat Heros. Silhouettes in the collection explore an evolved masculinity, which merge the classics of mens tailoring with the elaborate detailing of the Great Basin buckaroo, which has obvious roots in the Spanish vaquero. The colour-way includes high-veld yellows, bushy greens and baby blues, which all burn into hots like sour orange and blood red. The colours were pulled from both the previous and the current national flag.

For the collection, the illustrious political cartoonist Jonathan Zapiro – whose intelligent and confrontational illustrations have burnt onto our collective cultural hive mind – contributed his archival works to be used as headlining prints. The artworks “SA Body Politic” and “Zuma must Fall”, which have been used across linen, denim and cotton, describe the country’s decimated democratic landscape through Zapiro’s classic use of hyena’s to illustrate political crooks, who have mastered the art of manipulating. This references the collection’s title “Doublethink”, a term coined in George Orwell’s seminal novel, “1984”, which is defined as the act of simultaneously accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs. Corrupt politicians are conscious of the truth, while telling carefully constructed lies – the art of knowing and not knowing.

The Thebe Magugu “Soft’Tsotsi” Boots – the first menswear shoe proposition from the brand – are black knee-length equestrian boots which feature on their toe the newly-developed ‘TM’ brand insignia and on their calf, an inflamed red cut-out of our Sisterhood Emblem. Humour tinges the boot through a custom stainless steel spur that features a rotating cut-out of our brands logo.

The collection has an associating newspaper, created under the brands publishing arm FACULTY PRESS, and done in collaboration with leading South African newspaper THE DAILY MAVERICK. The 32 page newspaper features articles exploring the true cost of corruption on the country and continent from leading journalistic voices like Ferial Haffajee, Branco Brkic and Sibusiso Ngalwa, with a paper by fashion theorist Erica De Greef.

The DOUBLETHINK collection was presented at an installation on the 1st of July 2021 at Archivi – Fortezza da Basso Viale Filippo Strozzi 1, Firenze during Pitti Uomo. 

 

Installation: RAW MATERIALS (Ib Kamara + Gareth Wrighton + Felix Paradza)

Styling: Chloe-Andrea Welgemoed

Production: Urban Production

Is ever so Afrocentric meets the future in a post pandemic era where freedom reign supreme with exciting colors that not only feature depth but also a comedic element that makes this collection one of a kind. From the material choices to the cut and the fit screams daring hand above all freedom