DESIGNER Ephraim Molingoana recently found himself in the firing line.
This comes after the designer, who is the director of Ephymol that specialises in menswear, showcased his latest collection at South African Fashion Week.
Shortly after showcasing, the well-known designer found himself trending on social media.
Many were calling him out, saying he copied Laduma Ngxokolo’s designs, who owns Maxhosa.
This sparked a debate on intellectual property, creativity as well as if Laduma really owns the patterns since they are indigenous Xhosa designs and any creative can reference from them and put it in their own perspective.
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Comments flooded in about the designer’s collection, whose brand is known for boldness, masculine tailoring and for being uniquely timeless.
But what many didn’t know is that this is not the first time Ephraim, whose career in the fashion industry spans over two decades, has done a print collection before.
Earlier this year, the Soweto-born designer at Haute Fashion Africa had a print collection for his autumn collection.
Also in spring 2018 at the Africa Fashion Week, the designer presented a ready to wear collection, which had a print collection.
Commenting on the fashion scandal, social media user Hermaine said: “Where’s creativity, this is a copy and paste of Maxhosa.”
Nwabisa Mathloko commented and said the designer is drawing unnecessary attention towards himself.
“Drawing unnecessary attention towards you unless it’s a marketing strategy.”
Social media user @SixteenMusic questioned whether Maxhosa owns the patterns.
“But aren’t these patterns part of the nguni culture i.e Ndebele, Xhosa, Zulu. So Laduma now owns all of them?? I say no this guy is right, nobody owns these patterns.”
“So other fashion designers can’t do prints because of Maxhosa/Laduma ?” @Queen_Pardo questioned.
Speaking to Daily Sun, the founder of Maxhosa, Laduma Ngxokolo, said: “I was really surprised when I saw the designs because they resemble mine and that is not the normal Ephymol style.”
When asked whether he will be taking legal action against the designer, Laduma said he cannot comment on that.
“I cannot comment on that, that’s something I would have to sit down and discuss with my lawyers,” he said.
When the SunTeam approach Ephraim for comment, he did not answer our calls or respond to messages.
