22-05-2025
Going to the river with Rich Mnisi
As fashion continues to grapple with questions of sustainability, storytelling and self-expression, South African designer Rich Mnisi responds with grace and an unmistakable sense of rhythm.
His latest collection, Nambu, is a visual meditation on time, memory and motion. Referencing the isiThonga word for river, Nambu is both metaphor and map, charting the evolution of Mnisi's decade-old brand alongside the global currents shaping his design language.
'Nambu felt deeply personal,' Mnisi says. 'It was honestly a river. There were calm moments and then wild, emotional rapids. It forced me to pause and reflect on everything we've been through as a brand and as a team.'
That emotional pull courses through the collection's fluid tailoring, its softened colour palette and its recurring motifs of water and movement. From flags that pay homage to Mnisi's personal and national history to reimagined silhouettes from earlier collections, Nambu is a living archive, a love letter to 10 years of building the Republic of Rich Mnisi.
