PARIS — Thebe Magugu is branching out into hotels.

Following the opening last year of Magugu House, his retail and culture hub in Johannesburg, the South African designer is landing in Cape Town with a signature suite at the historic Mount Nelson, part of the Belmond group owned by luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. 

Marking the 10-year anniversary of his brand, the launch of the Thebe Magugu Suite represents his first foray into interior design, and marks Belmond’s inaugural Designer Residence concept.

Adjoining the suite will be the second location of Magugu House, which will function as a concept store carrying collections by Magugu and other African designers, a gallery showcasing local artists, and a venue for salon-style events, screenings and exhibits.

The partnership is a natural extension of Magugu’s relationship with the French luxury group. Since winning the LVMH Prize for Young Designers in 2019, he has designed a capsule collection for Dior and hosted Champagne Day on behalf of Moët & Chandon. So when Mount Nelson came calling, he said yes. 

With its signature pink walls, the 126-year-old hotel, set in a garden estate with views onto Table Mountain, is a local institution famed for its afternoon tea. “It literally feels like a Wes Anderson scene,” Magugu told WWD.

He was keen to bring his signature Afro-modern aesthetic to the space, and provide a platform for artists like Zizipho Poswa, whose work is featured in several Loewe stores.

“I feel like my creativity has always stretched over and above fashion,” the designer said. “The core thing that I do is clothing, but I’ve always loved the idea of building a space and building a universe in general.”

Neal Ludick, Belmond’s director of interior design, said the aim was to bridge the gap between the colonial-style architecture of the property and the hotel’s contemporary African clientele.

“It was for us very important to have someone that is really an iconic role model within the creative industry to explore that and make sure that we have that connection,” he said.

“There’s some beautiful, romantic detailing in the colonial architecture, and it’s not something that you want to lose,” Ludick noted. “What Thebe has done really successfully with the suite is embracing that in a creative way, but layering onto it.”

Magugu partnered with interior design firm StudioLandt to explore an “Afro-English” aesthetic, juxtaposing British and South African design approaches, with a palette that incorporates his signature shades of pistachio and terracotta, and textures of stone and timber. 

“I never want to be a wrecking ball. I really think collaborations should be respectful,” he said. “The tensions and the juxtapositions that have come out from that are really interesting.”

The two-story suite, which includes a lobby, lounge and dining area, a bedroom with an en-suite bathroom and a walk-in wardrobe, will be furnished with hand-carved furniture and a curated selection of rotating artworks from local gallery Southern Guild.

These include paintings by Mmangaliso Nzuza, alongside works by Lulama Wolf, Zandile Tshabalala, Banele Khoza, Lorenzo Plaatjies and Trevor Stuurman. Magugu said he wanted the space to be a “snapshot” of African culture.

“If someone comes to the suite and doesn’t necessarily have time to immerse themselves in Cape Town or go to this museum and look at that location, I almost want the suite to be a summary in that sense,” he explained.

The designer, who grew up in the Ipopeng township in the mining town of Kimberley, is also including plenty of personal touches. 

“I’m working with the hotel’s kitchen to create a very unique menu inspired by a lot of the things I and my family ate growing up, the things my grandmother used to cook,” he said. 

Together with the hotel tea sommelier, he’s creating custom blends for the suite and has even developed amenities that may grow into a stand-alone beauty line. 

Belmond has previously worked with Anderson, the director of “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” on a British Pullman carriage, and with French artist JR aboard the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. 

“It’s a very enlightening experience for me as an architect, because you saw this raw creativity coming alive, whereas with us, when we design, we design within parameters,” Ludick said.

With the opening of a second branch of Magugu House, Magugu is starting to view the brand as a spin-off of his fashion line, with the potential to expand into more locations. “I want my Magugu House to house creativity and community in general,” he said.

He first began working with Mount Nelson in 2022 as the guest designer for the inaugural edition of Confections x Collections, an annual celebration of Pan-African fashion curated by sustainability platform Twyg. 

Magugu this year stopped showing on the traditional fashion show calendar in Paris, pausing wholesale to focus on his direct-to-consumer business, and praised the hotel for providing a much-needed showcase for South African designers.

“I really love that idea that they are using their power and their platform to create environments where designers can showcase to an incredible audience of high-net-worth individuals, of media and everyone,” he said.

Bookings for the Thebe Magugu Suite open from December. “This is such a key milestone for the brand, and a great milestone to usher in the next 10 years,” Magugu said.