Lukhanyo Mdingi

Lukhanyo Mdingi’s eponymous label is an ever-evolving emergence of consideration, community and timeless design. Born out of Cape Town, South Africa, in 2015, the label exists as a space that moves deeply into the very essence of human ingenuity and the preservation of craftsmanship.
Fundamental to the cosmology of LM is the exploration of fashion as its current lexicon through which they harness the spirit of being human. In this way, the label re-imagines and reinstates dignity and notoriety in its garment production; with a small team based in Cape Town, while continually collaborating with artisans on the continent such as the expert weavers from PHILANI in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, to textile artisans at CABES GIE in Burkina Faso. Their approach to design is a practice that is centred around these relationships; it is from these symbiotic connections that Lukhanyo Mdingi conceptualises their collections, believing that beginning with human beings is where the essence is held for creating meaningful and intelligent design.
With notable mentions, the Lukhanyo Mdingi label has had the opportunity to exhibit select archival bodies of work in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London as well as the Brooklyn Museum, New York as part of the Africa Fashion Exhibition. In working with the notion of lineage-building; this is particularly noted in their partnership with the Ethical Fashion Initiative, as well as being the recipient of the LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Prize in 2021, leading to becoming a finalist of the ANDAM Prize in 2022. These ongoing relationships continue to nurture the label’s longevity, balancing both the creative and entrepreneurial spirit with which Lukhanyo Mdingi is known, this led to the label being awarded the GQ Designer of the Year Award 2023 and an honorary recipient of the AMIRI Prize 2023.
Having debuted at SA Menswear Week in the year of their inception, 2015, the label has presented at New York Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week to acclaimed reception. This eternal reverence for the hands that make is central to Lukhanyo Mdingi’s vision, and the label is a testimony & dialogue occurring on African soil as an intention to emanate outward across the planet.
Lukhanyo Mdingi currently resides on the board of the annual Advisory Committee for the Design Academy of Fashion, Cape Town.