Thebe Magugu x Valentino Haute Couture facilitated by Vogue. The past few weeks, I have had the incredible honour of working on a Vogue Designer Swap with Pierpaolo Piccioli. He sent to our studios in Johannesburg a look from his AW18 Haute Couture collection; an arresting off-shoulder silk-taffeta plisse-waist dress worn by Tracee Ellis Ross. In my research, I understood that Pierpaolo, for that collection, was looking at 18th Century Women. This made me ask who were 18th Century Women in Africa? I thought of the strength and regality of Queen Nandi Bhebhe (c. 1760 – October 10, 1827) - mother of the King of the Zulus. It broke my heart to cut up such a magnificent dress [it actually rained that day, and hoped I would not get struck by lightening]. We completely unpicked the dress, recut using patterns I had developed, and moved it from a whimsical dress to an elevated trench coat with voluminous sleeves. All the tulle in the garment we hand-dyed into the classic PP Pink and created wide leg-pants and a frill-neck blouse. The hat you see is actually the supporting corset from the original dress, inverted and treated like a crown. I created a special logo merging our sisterhood emblem and Valentino’s classic crest, screen-printing it on the crown.