For Leeroy Mapungwana, it can be said that fashion is something that has always been in his blood. A predestined path that would call to him, and when the time came, without any formal training Leeroy would somehow carve his own path into the industry. Using the internet and his mother’s knowledge of seamstressing as his greatest resources, Leeroy Mapungwana started with designing his own clothes.
From designing his own clothes, Leeroy would enter the professional world of fashion at around the age of 22. While his career can be considered to only just have been launched, the young designer is already aiming to leave his mark. As he tells it, his relationship with the the art of fashion is centred on collaboration. He sees the creative space as being about community, and strongly believes in the theory of rising by lifting others.
This desire for community and collaboration is something that he credits to his upbringing. Leeroy not only hopes for this but one of his principal desires is to tell uniquely African stories through fashion. He hopes that designers can come together and create a distinct identity. One that can not only showcase African fashion, but Zimbabwean, Ndebele, and Shona. All united in the aim of telling our stories outside of Western or any other influence.
The individuality and uniqueness Mapungwana sees as being possible in our fashion is something that goes back to his childhood. His grandfather was a music producer who used to work with the likes of Lovemore Majaivana and Jeys Marabini. He says seeing these guys and how they stood out in not only their fashion but their craft, made him fall in love with the arts. Mapungwana desired to tell his own stories that were just as unique.
So I would say me growing up around musicians, musicians who didn’t make music just to pop or do whatever was trending. Musicians who wanted to tell a story through their art. Influenced me to also want to tell my story through fashion.
At the beginning of this year Mapungwana was part of the of The Next Move Mobile Residency (for young emerging designers) by AfriDigital and the British Council. This project saw him creating his first ever line of fashion. The line made more than just a fashion statement, but it was also a functional archive tied in with the preservation of indegenous cultural heritage.
Mapungwana designed clothes that featured a QR code, which led to information about the BaTonga tribe when scanned. The designer regards this experience as one of the standout moments in his career so far.
When I got chosen for the AfriDigital residency that was the biggest moment of my career, because I finally had someone who didn’t even know me, who had never heard about me choosing me to create something for their project and financially supporting my vision and my goals. From there the only way I can go is up.
Since then the designer has also showcased at the Zimbabwean fashion and arts revolution that is the Skeyi & Strobo Fabrik Party. He debuted the first of a four part fashion series centred around flowers.
The collection was all about me giving flowers to all the amazing strong African women who took their time to pass down their skills to me.
Key to his path in the future, Mapungwana wants to get formal training that’ll help him expand his craft. He hopes to leave a legacy that not only touches people across Zimbabwe but across the globe. Along with his own growth, he hopes to be a catalyst for growth in Bulawayo’s fashion space. Something he’ll soon be actively working on.
Leeroy Mapungwana is part of ‘Tha Plug In’, a Creative showcase by the British Council in partnership with #enthuse Magazine.
