Thebe Magugu’s Insider’s Guide to Johannesburg

Joburg was never my first choice. When I enrolled in Kimberley, I applied to Central Saint Martins and was turned down, which was heartbreaking. It was too late to apply anywhere else, so my mom said, your next best option is Johannesburg. I came here from the Kimberley in 2013 to study fashion design, photography and media at LISOF. [now the Stadio School of Fashion]. I fell in love with Joburg the longer I lived here. The city has a lot of juxtapositions: you have resourceful and creative people, but everyone knows that it can be quite violent. It comes with its difficulties, but Joburg has also received unfair criticism. I always say: don’t always listen to other people’s interpretation. And you can’t say you’ve been to South Africa if you haven’t experienced Johannesburg.

I start my mornings in the gourmet grocer, a cafe and grocery store in Birdhaven. I always order a rooibos tea and a smoothie with peanut butter and yogurt. On Saturdays I sit there and catch up on work without having to worry about rushing to the office. I also love a restaurant called The Royale, which is owned by my friends. A lot of collaborations or ideas I’ve had come from conversations in the real. Next to the dining room, there is a room where everyone connects their phones and plays music, so it is also very common. If I want to dress well and feel chic, I’ll go with friends to Marble, an amazing restaurant in Rosebank. I love the decor, which has lots of browns and olives mixed with marbling. I’ll have a steak and some sweet white wine.

Below Marble is BKhz, a gallery that I adore, partly because of the space but also because of the person behind it, Banele Khoza, who is an artist. Every six weeks he highlights emerging names. His commitment and taste are incredible. You always learn something new and that is very important to me; In my work, I always try to portray what contemporary South Africa looks like today. I don’t think you can be a fashion designer if you don’t have your ears up.

So many ideas have come from conversations at the Royale

A place for emerging names in fashion is rise of africa, which was launched in Sandton by designer Thula Sindi and represents a host of young local talent. I also love the store 2A because it opens a local window to the world of luxury; Luxury fashion for the people of South Africa is usually something far away, but 2A brings it to us. I often browse the latest Pierpaolo Piccioli collections for Valentino and always keep an eye on what Maria Grazia Chiuri is doing at Dior. When I saw the collaboration I did for Dior in stores late last year, it was such a weird full circle moment; I always felt like I was stuck outside of the industry, so seeing the collection was special for many reasons.

One place I go almost every day is the restaurant. double zero at Rosebank. I walk in and I don’t need to say anything, they just say, “The usual?” My order is a pollo limone: grilled chicken breast with grilled vegetables. They serve it with a side of sweet chili sauce and I love how all those flavors come together. And then, if it’s the weekend, I order a strawberry daiquiri. Another restaurant that I adore is food i love you, a restaurant on Constitution Hill that has an incredible history; it is in the building where Nelson Mandela was once imprisoned. The great thing about Mpho Phalane’s food is that it infuses a sense of modernity into the traditional foods we ate growing up. It goes back to those juxtapositions, those tensions between things that seem like they shouldn’t be together, coming together and creating a beautiful result.