SEEING RED: South African designer Thebe Magugu is partnering with Red, the nonprofit organization founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver, for the second edition of his Heirloom project, which allows clients to customize wax prints with images of their loved ones.
After the launch edition blouse last year drew orders from former First Lady Michelle Obama, Cynthia Erivo and Lupita Nyong’o, among others, Magugu has expanded the range.
This year, he’s offering a pajama-collar shirt, a pair of straight-leg trousers with an elasticated waist and a tote bag, in a design evoking peacock feathers available in four colors: green, white, navy and red.
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Proceeds from the red items will go toward Red, which has generated $760 million for the Global Fund and the fight against HIV and AIDS.
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“Heirloom is a very special project for me, because it gets to immortalize through cloth not only my own memories, but the memories of others as well, creating an archivable ‘log’ of one’s life. It is extra special that this project also gets to contribute to Red’s critical mission of fighting AIDS through the power of fashion,” Magugu said in a statement.
“I have seen the effects of HIV and AIDS up close, having lost family members to it, and watching others manage the condition, I am personally invested in this cause. Being in South Africa, we have one of the highest rates in the world,” added the designer, who won the LVMH Prize in 2019.
Magugu tapped Dune Tilley, a 25-year-old multidisciplinary artist, to create the accompanying film and imagery shot using a combination of analog photography and AI technology.
The two are in the process of founding their own speculative research and AI specialist agency at the service of other artists, designers and creators. Tilley has previously done consulting in this area for brands including Adidas, Spotify and Mercedes-Benz, Magugu said.
“Dune is a visionary and powerfully captured memory — which is so ethereal and evanescent — in a way that gives it permanence,” he said. “For this project especially, there is something very interesting in mixing the manual with AI because memory itself is a combination of fact versus fiction, experience versus embellishment.”
The items can be preordered from midday on Thursday until Sept. 1 on thebemagugu.com. The shirt is priced at $560, the pants at $480 and the tote bag at $260.