Lihle Ngxololo-Nqini: leading MaXhosa Africa with faith and vision

“Luxury fashion house, MaXhosa Africa, is a globally recognised brand known for its patterns and bold colour palettes, knitwear inspired by the Xhosa heritage.

The name of its co-founder and designer, Laduma Ngxokolo, rolls off the tongue of many, but one name that deserves recognition is his sister, Lihle Ngxololo-Nqini, who is the Managing Director of MaXhosa Africa.

Nqini, a public relations graduate, found herself working at her brother’s company, which has become a family business. Navigating the corridors of power has been a challenging journey as every situation on any given day is never the same.

“I choose situational leadership because one situation is never the same as other,” she tells IOL.

Nqini admits she isn’t the biggest fan of describing herself as a “person in power” but prefers a “person that leads”.

“I get to lead different people from different walks of life and I've also seen that you don't lead everyone the same way. As much as there will be a certain structure or policy that is followed, not every situation is the same. 

“I've learned to live knowing that people are always going to be humans at the end of the day.”

MaXhosa Africa is one of the leading luxury brands on the continent and growing with the brand has been one of the most beautiful things for Nqini. From working with zero budget to having a certain budget.

“It makes you fully understand that you don't need to be wasting because the budget is actually available right now. We've been through so many challenges, like opening up the store in New York has been super challenging on its own.

“We must understand that, as much as we are a leading luxury brand. We are always mindful that we are also not where we want to be as a brand. We still want to grow further.”

Nqini is studying towards her MBA to help her navigate her new role and understand the business holistically. She opted to go the online route, with her work, mom life and everything else in between.

I decided to go the online route of studying towards her MBA because I knew I couldn't be physically present with my work life, my mom life, and everything that also happens around the world.

“I had an opportunity to take some time to rest and focus on something else, which was a big privilege for me. However, I do think by maybe the end of this year I'll be able to conquer and finish what I've started.”

The journey has been filled with failure, heartbreak, and moments that made her want to cry. “If you don't pick up your head in the morning and try again, then failure would have conquered.”

“Faith” is what Nqini lives by, believing that God can. “Most of the time, even in business, as much as you would believe that everything in business goes by the book, but if you don't have faith, you won't knock on any door. 

“You've got to have faith that someone will open an opportunity. You always have faith that if you post this, it will turn into a sale.”

Nqini is also the chairperson of the Lindelwa Foundation. They recently held their first auction dinner, which she admits had her feeling emotional, something out of the ordinary for her. “Maybe it was too personal for me, and we were doing something of that nature for the first time.

“We are great at doing fashion shows and that's where we specialize and we work with models, production, and choreography. That's what we do. But this one was a bit different because we also had to go out and ask people to donate their pieces.

“The support that we received was very beautiful. Just one call, one email away and people will come through.

The Lindelwa Foundation’s focus is education paired with skills development. They host students at the MaXhosa factor and work with the companies that help with creative upskilling.

The foundation hosts masterclasses for models, equipping them with skills to help them fully understand and appreciate the process.

“We'll call in people from actual agencies, people who are actual models within agencies, and models who are freelancers. We call them in and educate those who are interested in the field of modeling. 

“Unfortunately, we live in a country where modeling cannot be for some a full-time job, like it is in other European and American countries. 

“We thought that it's important for us, as we are seen as a leader in the modeling scene, that we can call people in and educate them because unfortunately, we'll not be able to use all the models that are interested to work with us.”

Business masterclasses are also given to help creatives understand the avenues they can turn to for legal matters and accounting. 

Nqini teases that there is more in store for MaXhosa Africa, with their lifestyle division route going in the direction they have been planning for so many years.

IOL