Ayanda Nhlapo's bold journey to fashion success

TV presenter and actor Ayanda Nhlapo is stepping into her next career phase as a fashion designer.

The 33-year-old was triumphant during Africa Month after debuting her runway collection at the Soweto Fashion Week (SFW). Her collection captured the spirit of SFW’s pouring partner Monkey Shoulder – “The Whisky That Blends the Rules”.

Nhlapo’s fashion label, House of Ayanda, featured a spectacular runway production that showcased a 15-piece collection embodying her fashion story, layered with bold, modern Afro-cultural notes and feminine silhouettes. 

The overwhelming positive reception at SFW served as validation for Nhlapo never to slow down. “I’m so grateful that they [SFW] pushed me to take that step,” says Nhlapo.

“After all these years of supporting the fashion industry, I feel like I’m finally ready. When Soweto Fashion Week called me and invited me to showcase, I was still feeling unsure. But they said, no, you are ready, and you are coming to showcase.

“The show has happened, and I’m overwhelmed by the response. It just goes to show that you must go for it. You’re readier than you think.”

Now in its 14th year, SFW has stitched itself up as a coveted fashion showcase, particularly for up-and-coming designers and streetwear. The platform hails disruptive change-makers making bold moves.

At the forefront of the fashion revolt, Monkey Shoulder and SFW have partnered for the Joburg-based designer search competition, the Street Thread Battle. Fashion students, rebels and visionaries can enter on Monkey Shoulder’s official website, with the winner set to debut a collection like Nhlapo did at the next SFW in November.

The winner will also receive a cash prize of R20,000, mentorship from streetwear designer Fulu Rathumbu, and collaboration with his fashion label, BLANK Collection.

“Growing up, there was always this rebel, curious side of me kicking in where I just wanted to do what I wanted to do,” says Nhlapo. 

Her bold move to take a gap year from her media studies in 2012 led her to sell vintage clothing at a street market in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

Years later, Nhlapo recalls the experience as the fashion risk that changed the trajectory of her life. “I sold vintage clothes to keep myself busy,” she says.

“Also, during my time at the market, I was scouted by a TV producer who was looking for fashion designers to be contestants for a reality TV competition. I joined a talent agency and started getting into TV and commercials.” 

Nhlapo went on to win SABC3’s Young Designers reality competition season 3 in 2014.  “The following year, I went back to school. I knew what I wanted to do, which was fashion design,” she says.

She enrolled at the Design School Southern Africa (now the Vega School of Design). Her style had now caught the attention of Mzansi, and she was the recipient of The Next Big Thing at the SA Style Awards in 2016. 

Nhlapo’s love affair with vintage fashion was shaped by her grandmother and mother’s confident self-expression through their style at a young age.  “Oh, my fashion queens,” she remarks.

“Growing up, I had the pleasure of seeing my grandmother and mother just looking stylish the whole time. I remember when my grandmother passed on, she left her finest, most amazing clothing and accessories, and luckily, my mother never sold or gave away their things.

“The entrepreneur in me was inspired by my mother. She had a job, but then she had her own business importing the most amazing clothes from Turkey, Bangkok, China and India. I would be in the lounge with her as she’s talking excitedly to clients about her new finds. That’s where I sort of learnt the business of fashion.”

In 2020, Nhlapo played Noluthando in the BET Africa telenovela Isono opposite Nthati Moshesh, Bohang Moeko, Senzo Radebe and Anga Makubalo.

* This article forms part of a content and commercial collaboration with Monkey Shoulder