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Lethabo Xulu

@elxulu

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i'm a dot connector • design futurist • disciple •
MaMA : 👧🏾🧑🏿‍🦱👧🏽
thinker : all of life is design
doer : @design_residency | @modern_staples
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@afri_digital is bringing the Lesela as Calico Workshop Series to Johannesburg. Over 6 weeks (10 October - 21 November), facilitators @elxulu and @floydavenue will guide participants through alternative pattern-making, reviewing Tomoko Nakamichi’s Pattern Magic 2, and exploring garment construction through a Pan-African lens. Swipe to find out more about the embodied, practice-based approach to decolonial fashion thinking workshop. Link in bio to book your spot! #decolonialfashion #africantextiles #AfriLab patternmagic johannes
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🎒 As Johannesburg gears up for @designweeksouthafrica we count down to our first Lesela as Calico workshop session by taking a look back at our facilitator presentations during last week's Online Session with Floyd Manotoana, founder of @floydavenue and founding member of the legendary fashion collective the SMARTEEZ. 📚 BOOK YOUR SPOT! Registrations for our Lesela as Calico pattern making workshop close this Friday and we still have a few spots open. Workshop Details: 📍 Transwerke Studios, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 📅 30 September – 21 November 2026 💰 R3,750 per participant (Payment Terms Accepted) 👥 Limited to 10 participants 🎓 No prior qualifications required Spaces are limited. See link in bio to complete the registration form and secure your place. #AFRI #LeselaAsCalicoworkshop #JoburgCreative #JohannesburgDesign #DesignWeekSouthAfrica
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A few words from our workshop coordinator and lead facilitator, Lethabo Xulu. Workshop Details: 📍 Transwerke Studios, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 📅 30 September – 21 November 2026 💰 R3,750 per participant (Payment Terms Accepted) 👥 Limited to 10 participants 🎓 No prior qualifications required Spaces are limited. See link in bio to complete the registration form and secure your place. #afri #leselaascalicoworkshop #patternmaking #patternmagic2 #conhill
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Morning Sessions kick off next week, taking place each day throughout Design Week Joburg ☕️ Thur 8 Oct Design-led strategist and futurist Lethabo Xulu of elxulu studio and designer and strategist Pumla Maswanganyi, lead author of the African Life-Centric Design framework, join The Craft and Design Institute’s Shado Twala to ask, What does South African design look like when defined on its own terms? Considering that by 2050, approximately one in four people on Earth will be African, the conversation explores how our knowledge systems, typologies and cultural memory contribute to African design methodologies, and imagines a design landscape shaped by Africa and its diaspora. Lethabo Xulu — elxulu studio (@elxulu)
Pumla Maswanganyi — African Life-Centric Design (@swangs_express) (@africanlifecentricdesign)
Shado Twala —The Craft + Design Institute (@shadotwala) (@craft_and_design_institute) 📍Kohi, 44 Stanley (@kohi_by_ifuku) (@44_stanleyavenue) 🗓️ Thursday, 8 October from 9:00 to 10:30
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Taking another look at the workshop in Kampala as we count down to our latest workshop in Joburg. 🇿🇦 If you're still undecided or you'd like to learn more about the workshop then please comment using 'Lesela as Calico' in our comments section to gain access to our online information & presentation session on Wednesday the 30th of September 2026 at 19h00 SAST. Workshop Details: 📍 Transwerke Studios, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 📅 30 September – 21 November 2026 💰 R3,750 per participant (Payment Terms Accepted) 👥 Limited to 10 participants 🎓 No prior qualifications required Spaces are limited. See link in bio to complete the registration form and secure your place. #AFRI #LeselaAsCalicoworkshop #JoburgCreative #JohannesburgDesign #DesignWeekSouthAfrica
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Part of the project unfolding is observing the re-organising of Black agency — through our own questions, economies, and design histories. Last year, I was invited by Ziyander Mute to facilitate a sustainable fashion workshop in Thembisa, and the key takeaway was: Context, context, context is key. Embedding local narratives into the ideas around sustainability and vice versa made for incredible conversation and insights. #papertopractice #backroomofthefuture #africandesign
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Before there was Johannesburg, there was Kampala! 🧵 Our Lesela as Calico Workshop Series kicked off with Pattern Magic 2 by Tomoko Nakamichi — a hands-on, practice-based dive into pattern-making beyond the Western canon. Participants built their own DIY mannequins, unlearned old techniques, and reimagined patterns in barkcloth. Just two weeks remaining for participants in and around Joburg to register and take part. 🇿🇦 If you'd like to learn more, please comment using 'Lesela as Calico' in our comments section to gain access to our online information & presentation session on Wednesday the 30th of September 2026 at 19h00 SAST. Workshop Details: 📍 Transwerke Studios, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 📅 30 September – 21 November 2026 💰 R3,750 per participant (Payment Terms Accepted) 👥 Limited to 10 participants 🎓 No prior qualifications required Spaces are limited. See link in bio to complete the registration form and secure your place. Photography Credit: @mona.okulla.obua Photography Credit (Slide 3): @ban.tucreations #AFRI #LeselaAsCalicoworkshop #JoburgCreative #JohannesburgDesign #DesignWeekSouthAfrica
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Meet Our Workshop Facilitators 💥 Lethabo Xulu: Lethabo Xulu @elxulu is a thinker, designer, and futurist leading elxulu studio @design_residency , a research and design firm transforming the everyday objects and experiences of African people, particularly in South Africa, into urban living and design discourse. With 16+ years in the design industry, her practice pioneers African design futures across food, fashion, and interior design typologies. off-duty, she enjoys time with her husband and 3 kiddos, binge-watching Survivor, and fighting to keep her house plants alive. --- Morapedi Floyd Manotoana: Morapedi Floyd Manotoana is a Soweto-born South African fashion designer and founder of Floyd Avenue Apparel @floydavenue , known for blending African urban culture, contemporary menswear, tailoring and androgynous design. Since launching the brand in 2013, he has developed a distinctive, urban culture-driven design language focused on individuality, craftsmanship, unconventional silhouettes and timeless fashion. A winner of the South African Fashion Week Scouting Menswear Competition, Manotoana has gained international exposure and contributed to South Africa's fashion heritage through collaborations, international showcases and garment production for other brands. --- Workshop Details 📍 Transwerke Studios, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 📅 30 September – 21 November 2026 💰 R3,750 per participant 👥 Limited to 10 participants 🎓 No prior qualifications required Spaces are limited. See link in bio to complete the registration form and secure your place. #AFRI #LeselaAsCalicoworkshop #JoburgCreative #JohannesburgDesign #DesignWeekSouthAfrica
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Building on AFRI’s successful Pattern Magic II workshop piloted in Kampala earlier this year, Lesela as Calico Workshop(s) makes its debut in Johannesburg for a six-week exploration of alternative approaches to clothing construction, pattern-making and material culture. Using Tomoko Nakamichi's Pattern Magic II as a starting point, participants will learn through drawing, making, experimentation and collective learning, moving beyond the idea that fashion knowledge exists only within books and established educational systems. Participants will create body forms from discarded materials, develop unconventional patterns, and explore the translation of two-dimensional forms into three-dimensional garments. The series culminates in a material exploration using heritage textiles from across the African continent, including Aso Oke, Adire, Gara and Kente. Through making, we will consider the relationships between pattern, material, body and cultural context, while opening up conversations around Pan-African exchange and knowledge. The Johannesburg workshop will be led by multidisciplinary designer and researcher Lethabo Xulu @elxulu , alongside renowned fashion designer and founder of Floyd Avenue @floydavenue , Floyd Morapedi. Workshop Details 📍 Transwerke Studios, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 📅 30 September – 21 November 2026 💰 R3,750 per participant 👥 Limited to 10 participants 🎓 No prior qualifications required Your registration includes: • 1 online introduction session • 3 guided in-person pattern-making sessions • A guided textile tour • An intimate learning cohort • Light snacks during in-person sessions • AFRI-Lab Workshop Certificate upon completion Spaces are limited. See link in bio to complete the registration form and secure your place. #AFRI #LeselaAsCalicoworkshop #JoburgCreative #JohannesburgDesign #DesignWeekSouthAfrica
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Throwback to Uvuko 2026 Industry Immersion Week! We’re sharing some snippets of our cohort of Ekurhuleni creatives engaging with important industry spaces, mentors and facilitators who helped make the creative economy more visible, practical and reachable. Through studio visits, exhibitions, product reviews, market-readiness sessions and professional practice workshop, #UVUKO2026 sharpened their ideas, strengthened their confidence and began translating their creative work into clearer enterprise pathways. A heartfelt thank you to the Entrepreneurship Development Trust for helping make this learning journey possible, and to all our industry partners and facilitators for opening your knowledge, networks and working environments to the Uvuko 2026 cohort. #SibikwaArtsCentre #IAMUvuko2026 #CreativeEntreprenuership #CreativeEconomy
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A closer look at the artwork titled "Monumental Past" Artist : @wisani_manyisi Monumental Past 80cm x 80cm (original art work size) Mixed Medium 2025 Curator: @elxulu #modernstaples #africanart #designstories #landandlabour #designeducation
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Why introduce our design research practice through honey? We are interested in products that carry deep thought, lightly. Uju felt honest (and sweet) enough to be our conduit for this. #ModernStaples #ThoughtfulObjects #AfricanCreativeEconomy #DesignForLife
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