Author · Style & Fashion
Zanele Mbatha
Style and fashion editor. Has covered African fashion since 2012, attending Lagos, Nairobi, and South African Fashion Week annually.
Based in Maboneng, Johannesburg · 4 stories for KOPJE
- Style · STYLE
Africa's fashion moment has arrived
South African Fashion Week 2026 was the most internationally attended in its history — and the collections showed a confidence that no longer needs Western validation. We cover twelve designers who made the week matter.
22 April 2026 · 8 min read
- Style · STYLE
Why Joburg's thrift economy is turning heads in Paris
The vintage clothing markets of Braamfontein and Melville have become a sourcing destination for European buyers and a cultural phenomenon in their own right. Inside the secondhand economy quietly reshaping how Johannesburg dresses.
28 March 2026 · 8 min read
- Style · STYLE
The South African label that costs as much as Hermès
A handful of South African fashion and accessories brands are building genuine luxury positioning — not through imitation of European codes, but through radical specificity about African material, craft, and mythology.
14 March 2026 · 7 min read
- Style · STYLE
A summer of linen
Twelve South African labels making the case for the country's most honest fabric — from Thebe Magugu to MaXhosa Africa.
11 March 2026 · 6 min read
