Wanda Lephoto
Wanda Lephoto’s eponymous label is a study in the intersections between culture, identity and collaboration, specifically as it relates to the consciousness of dress. Portrayed through the stylistic history and future of African sartorial traditions, Wanda Lephoto “explores a notion of luxury dress merging African cultures, traditions, identities and approaches with global nuances to form new propositions for representation.”

This focus on newly proposed representations has seen the label showcase in Milan a number of times with the WHITE Show Milano, while also showing in Paris this year. From his collaboration with Thebe Magugu for Project 16.1.C, or launching the world’s first recycled NFT with Savanna and Metalabs  - Wanda Lephoto is a part of a cast of South African designers whose achievements are re-shaping the possibilities and potentials for local design. Also, let’s not forget the historic collaboration between Wanda Lephoto and Dakotas, which saw Wanda re-interpret the classic heritage of the loafer into the cleanest, high-shine slip-on mule. This ability to identify and analyse the sweep of sartorial history in South Africa defines Wanda as a designer and thinker for the ages. 

With an abounding focus on cultural sentiments, the brand was born out of Wanda’s co-founding of the iconic collective,

‘The Sartists’; a nearly decade-long collaboration with Andile Buka, Kabelo Kungwan and Xzavier Zulu - all four titanic figures in South Africa’s creative lexicon who have each gone onto carve defying niches exploring design and culture. This notion of collaborative story-telling, a commitment to archiving what was once prevented from being documented and a focus on the celebration of culture - leaves us incredibly excited to welcome Wanda Lephoto as part of our Lemkus offering.