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Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

2014

  • Work on this object began.

2016

2025

  • You found it!

Thahla Crew-neck Sweater, Ndlela Ntle Shorts, Sandals, And Socks, from the Mtanom’gquba collection, Spring / Summer 2016

This is a Thahla crew-neck sweater, Ndlela ntle shorts, sandals, and socks. It was designed by Laduma Ngxokolo and made for MaXhosa. It is dated 2014. Its medium is merino wool, mohair, leather, bamboo.

In his Spring / Summer 2016 collection Mtanom’gquba, Ngxokolo brings the traditions of his Xhosa culture into the realm of global fashion. Inspired by the manhood initiation rituals of the Xhosa, he looks to traditional beadwork as inspiration for these knit pieces. This sweater and shorts set employ a stark contrast between light and dark, with different diamond shapes defined in separate sections on the darkly colored sweater versus the plainer white shorts. The theme for the Spring / Summer 2016 collection is Mtanom’gquba, a Xhosa term for native Africans.

It is credited Museum purchase from designer.

Our curators have highlighted 41 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • Sample, Beaded Alphabet, E
  • acrylic beads, steel wire.
  • Courtesy of R & Company, New York and The Haas Brothers, Los Angeles.
  • 76.2015.19
  • Sample, Beaded Alphabet, C
  • acrylic beads, steel wire.
  • Courtesy of R & Company, New York and The Haas Brothers, Los Angeles.
  • 76.2015.17

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Beauty—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial.

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/69155173/ |title=Thahla Crew-neck Sweater, Ndlela Ntle Shorts, Sandals, And Socks, from the Mtanom’gquba collection, Spring / Summer 2016 |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=10 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>