This Women’s Month we shine the spotlight on female success stories. We speak to entrepreneur Nicole Ncube who is the owner and head designer of local luxury brand Ascend Label and she shares her success story with us.

Affordable luxury line Ascend Label has taken the fashion scene by storm; being adorned by celebrities such as Mbali Mlotshwa among others. We chat to the founder about her journey to date.

She tells us that she chose affordable luxury because she believes looking and feeling luxurious shouldn’t cost an arm and leg. “We all know luxury to be extremely costly but that shouldn’t always be the case, we also wanted to be inclusive by making it affordable.

With the threat of counterfeits experienced by brands such as MaXhosa and Plus-Fab, Nicole says this is something she doesn’t have an immediate solution for.

“Honestly, I don’t think any designer can run away from being counterfeited, the best thing we can do for ourselves is to make sure we’re trademarked so legal action can be taken if we get counterfeited and to make sure to use the best of materials so buyers can tell the difference between an original and a counterfeit,” she explains.

Rejection from agencies became her fuel to go at it alone and start her own fashion label. “I’ve always known I wanted to be part of the fashion industry but thought it’d be through modelling. I tried applying to agencies but never got accepted till I gave up, I also had an issue finding my size when buying clothes because I’m tiny so I thought why not kill two birds with one stone and start a brand I can model for and get clothes that fit from.”

The fashion line offers knitted skirts, scarves, cardigan leather items, tracksuits, and several more knitted items. They also offer items from the previous collections.
As a newbie, she also understands the importance of collaboration and is looking forward to collaborations in the near future.

“We’re looking to releasing the spring/summer collection and preparing for the following year. We’re also working on a few collaborations, we’ve got so many ideas already I can’t contain my excitement.

Though Women’s Month is commercialised, she says she is one person who’s always been about woman empowerment because women aren’t recognised in many industries.

“I’d love to see women in their different industries receiving support in every form and way and not be looked down on because we are as capable as anyone out there, and the love and support I’ve received upon starting Ascend in a male-dominated industry go to show that it’s possible. Women are the biggest consumers of fashion, we shouldn’t just be mules. We should be involved in the business of fashion, therefore it’s time women take a lead in designing and running fashion houses and brands,” concludes.