Most team sheets are defined by who gets left out. Thebe Magugu’s is more interested in who gets brought together.
The designer's latest project, MAGUGU FC: Women’s League, lines up eleven women from South Africa’s music and entertainment scene, each bringing their own audience, craft and attitude. Football provides the frame: the squad photo, the shirt, the buzz before a big fixture.
The kit itself is a butter-yellow and black unisex jersey, paired with a matching headscarf. It’s a smart bit of design, proving a shared team identity can still leave room for personal style. Then Nike also comes on board as official footwear and technical partner.
Shot by Aart Verrips and styled by Thobeka Mbane, the campaign flips between solo player portraits and a full team shot. The format is instantly recognisable, since football has trained us all to read a squad photo. Here, though, the team is defined by its impact on contemporary South African culture rather than its results.
“Football has always been such a fascinating part of the South African experience,” says Magugu. “It has its own language, its own codes of dress, its own rituals, and an extraordinary ability to bring people together.”
It’s a natural fit for a designer who, since launching his Johannesburg label in 2016, has used clothing to dig into African history, identity and cultural memory. Football, with roots in township streets, school playgrounds, stadiums and family living rooms, is fertile ground.
The point is: the shirt may be the connecting thread, but the women wearing it are what give this club its personality.
MAGUGU FC: Women’s League drops at selected South African stores on 29 October, with the campaign film landing on 30 October. A limited worldwide online release follows on 5 November.
