Nataal selects 10 of Design Indaba’s 2020’s Emerging Creatives
Each year Design Indaba selects some of South Africa’s brightest young talents to showcase as part of its Emerging Creatives initiative. This impressive incubator has alumni including Nataal favourite designers, Laduma Ngxokolo and Thebe Magugu, who have since gone far. The 2020 line-up was curated by a trio who have themselves come up through the programme. Art director Mokoena Kobeli and furniture designer Siyanda Mbele were joined by milliner Crystal Birch, whose glorious hats have found their way onto more than a few Nataal pages, too. Their different practices mean that the final line-up included creatives from all manner of disciplines from art and graphics to fashion and architecture. For the design conference’s silver jubilee, we’ve selected 10 of the 50 talents who made the grade to highlight here.
Fezokuhle Dimba
Up-and-coming Durban-based designer Fezokuhle Dimba begins conversations around eco-fashion and mindfulness in consumerism through her brand Love Hate Designs. Dimba combines waste materials with sustainably sourced fabrics to create her crafty, patch-worked pieces and her work has been seen on the catwalks of South African Fashion Week.
Robyn Agulhas
Cape Town’s Robyn Agulhas only graduated from Cape Town College of Fashion Design in November of last year but she’s already making waves in the South African creative scene. Her label, sinCHUI takes streetwear silhouettes and technological fabrications to create futuristic pieces.
Andrew Earl
Engineer, artist and researcher, Andrew Earl graduated from Imperial College London before studying at the capital’s prestigious Royal College of Arts, graduating last year. Critical and reflective, his work explores themes of violence, post-colonialism and transculturation.
Aza Lithalethu Mbovane
Based between Cape Town and Johannesburg, visual artist Aza Lithalethu Mbovane uses her work to interrogate the position of the black female body in societies, both past and present. The artist’s striking collages see her placed in the centre of activists and female fighters from history.
Courtney Rabbit
Photographer Courtney Rabbit graduated from university with a law degree but while studying simultaneously pursued photography. Just last year this young talent was awarded first place in the Canon x 10and5 Objective Photography Competition in addition to coming second in Beyond Design’s Youngbloodafrica award.
Ghilian Chevelu
A student at Inscape Design College in Cape Town, Ghilian Chevelu was born into a family of jewellers. Naturally creative, his work spans everything from furniture to illustration, while especially enjoying reimagining discarded items into something new and desirable. The latest string to his bow is a skate-inspired clothing brand called Illucid Apparel.
Luvo Mahangu
Capetonian Luvo Mahangu is a musician and a fashion designer who is currently finishing up his diploma at the Design Academy of Fashion and has already founded his own brand. Highly Unlikely plays around with print and form to find a bridge between streetwear and luxe designs. His pieces have found their way onto the SA Menswear Week catwalk, as part of One.I.Am's show.
Mia Louise Senekal
Founder of furniture design company Murrmurr, Mia Louise Senekal is making waves in the interior design world and has been featured in House and Leisure magazine. Her work takes nature as it’s jumping off point, before transforming the lines into something sleeker, sumptuous and altogether more luxurious.
Mongezi Mkhabela
Born in Swaziland, artist, Mongezi Mkhabela primarily works as a fashion and portraiture photographer when not studying and is currently based in Johannesburg. This fresh talent’s work has already been featured in Vogue Italia.
Nono Motlhoki
A fine artist based in Johannesburg, Nono Motlhoki creates across disciplines producing paintings, collage and digital pieces. Aside from being featured in Gallery Momo and Africa Flavour Books, her talent has also caught the eyes of Absolut Vodka, who commissioned her to create a poster for them and Mageu, for whom she designed packaging.