Thebe Magugu has become the first African fashion designer to curate a Fashion Forward playlist for Spotify. The Fashion Forward playlist highlights the importance of music in fashion. Spotify is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 489 million active monthly users, including 205 million paying subscribers.
Magugu is set to break the mould as he joins the international list of fashion designers and stylists that has been dominated by Americans such as US-based Korean Yoon Ahn, Americans Brandon Blackwood, Bobby Wesley, No Sesso, Zerina Akers, and Misa Hylton, who have all taken over the playlist in the past.
His playlist is a collection of songs that have inspired him, as a designer and as an African. In the playlist, he also tells the story of his journey towards becoming one of the most celebrated South Africans in global fashion.
Magugu said his playlist is made up of artists he was listening to while he was coming up with his Autumn/Winter ‘23 Folklorics collection. The first half of the playlist focused on transcendental dance, and the second half is focused on the voice and acoustics.
“As the name suggests, the collection looks at the past through a modern sense – much like the artists selected, who beautifully combine the past, the present and slight suggestions for the future through their intelligent, genre-bending and afro-centric stories,” said Magugu.
The fashion playlist is made up of 55 songs that explore South African music, such as Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse, Brenda Fassie, Lebo Mathosa, Black Coffee, DJ Sbu, DJ Cleo, Skwatta Kamp, Kwesta, and Cassper Nyovest, bringing in the hip hop flavour in the mix.
Phiona Okumu, Head of Music for Spotify Sub-Saharan Africa said: “Spotify’s Fashion Forward playlist explores music and fashion, bringing together the foremost tastemakers of these closely related worlds. At Spotify, being right at the heart of where culture takes shape alongside the creators who mold it is important to us.
“Collaborating with creators like Thebe Magugu, whose growing global impact in fashion is so inspiring, is one more innovative way that we highlight African creativity on the platform, and it’s exciting.”
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