About

Founded in 2015, the brand Sindiso Khumalo is unapologetically bold, bright and feminine. Each collection highlights the designer’s South African heritage and history with sustainability, craft and empowerment at the label’s heart. Contemporary, beyond trends and seasons, and clothing with intent are all key signatures.  

The eponymous label is based in Cape Town. Khumalo designs all the textiles in her collections based on her drawings, watercolours and abstract cutouts. Over the years, she has developed a uniquely colourful visual language that draws upon her Zulu and Ndebele heritage and the lands of Kwazulu Natal, where she’s from. 

Khumalo didn’t start in fashion — she first studied architecture at the University of Cape Town. She then moved to London, where she worked for the world-renowned architect David Adjaye. Khumalo went on to a Masters degree in Textiles Futures at the prestigious Central Saint Martins, kickstarting a career as a sustainable textile designer. 

Along with bringing values of social equality and female empowerment into her brand, Khumalo has spoken on sustainability in fashion at the United Nations and the European Development Forum. She’s presented her designs at Milan Fashion Week and exhibited at places such as The Smithsonian Museum of African Art in Washington, the Louisiana Museum in Denmark and the Zeitz Mocaa Museum, Cape Town. In 2020, Sindiso Khumalo was a winner of the GCFA Independent Designer award and joint winner of the LVMH Prize in 2020. 

“Clothing can be a form of medicine. It can evoke emotions and make you feel strong, alive and empowered. That’s what I want to bring to my designs, making women feel empowered, exceptional and unique. I love the idea of clothing embodying an element of good fortune when you buy them — be it in the print or the colour,” says Sindiso Khumalo.