Wanda Lephoto Enters Womenswear With Exclusive Bash Collaboration

Wanda Lephoto Enters Womenswear With Exclusive Bash Collaboration. South African designer Wanda Lephoto has entered womenswear with an exclusive collection created in partnership with Canvas Studios, the private-label brand of online retailer Bash.

The Wanda Lephoto x Canvas Studios collection launched on 13 October 2026 and brings Lephoto’s approach to storytelling, cultural identity and sustainability into womenswear.

The collaboration builds on a relationship between Lephoto and Bash following the 2025 Twyg Sustainable Fashion Awards, where he received both the Changemaker Award, sponsored by Bash, and the Trans-seasonal Design Award.

For Canvas Studios, the partnership provides an opportunity to bring Lephoto’s design perspective to Bash’s online retail audience.

David West, head of design for Canvas Studios, said Lephoto had an ability to translate personal stories into ideas that could connect with a wider audience.

Lephoto is known for research-led menswear exploring South African identity, memory and representation. His first womenswear collection draws inspiration from the memory of his sister, who died in 1995 at the age of 10 and had appeared in a fashion advertisement that year.

The memory led Lephoto to consider how his sister might have dressed and expressed herself as an adult, and what that imagined story could say about contemporary beauty, identity and womanhood.

Lephoto said he approached the collection by learning from women rather than imposing ideas about how they should dress.

The collection reinterprets familiar prints, patterns and textures through a contemporary perspective influenced by South Africa’s different cultures and histories.

Sustainability is also reflected in the collaboration through considerations including local production, circularity, collaboration and the cultural significance of clothing.

Lephoto said the collection focuses on everyday clothing that feels elevated while remaining comfortable and allowing people to retain their sense of self.