South African fashion is conversational and ever-evolving, thanks to consumer preferences and global shifts. Worldwide, we’ve been seeing an ongoing interest in the innovative use of sustainable and eco-friendly materials, while in South Africa, there is an additional trend towards locally produced clothing and bold African-storytelling designs.
Local South African fashion moguls create or promote these trends, using their influence on social media platforms to bolster their fashion-forward viewpoints and convert hundreds of thousands (sometimes even millions) of followers into trend-following fashionistas.
This means that South African fashion influencers on Instagram and other social media channels offer one of the most effective ways to gain credibility for your South African brand.
Using our social influencer platform, we've picked 5 of the top fashion influencers in South Africa (in no particular order) for you to check out and, of course, to follow:
Reading tips: Here's our list of the top global fashion influencers and the top fashion influencers in Singapore. Take a look at the top global beauty influencers, and the top South African beauty influencers to inspire your brand and learn more about Consumer Insights for Fashion. We also have a blog about the media landscape in South Africa and detailed South African social media statistics for you.
Kefilwe Faith Mabote
With over 1,9 million total fans across all channels, Kefilwe Mabote is one of South Africa’s biggest fashion influencers, best known for her luxury lifestyle.
Her posts on beauty, fashion, and her day-to-day lifestyle, which most South Africans aspire to, are what keep followers enticed. She is continually redefining herself, has written an autobiography, starred on TV in Savage Beauty and Smart Money Women, and is also a developer. She’s hard not to love, and her large following and high engagement rate, and influence is the proof.
Kefilwe Faith Mabote Influencer Stats
- 1,9M total Fans
- 1.4M Instagram Followers
- 425K Facebook page likes
- 93,7K Twitter likes
- 31.4K enagagment/post
- 56% of her audience is from South Africa
- 420,147 true reach*
- 95 /100 influence score*
- 1M true reach
Nabilah
Nabilah had us at her Instagram bio.
This ‘skinny girl, fat dreams’ influencer has over 137K followers across channels. She is one of South Africa’s biggest influencers in the modest fashion space, with her husband being her manager and photographer.
Beautiful clothing and makeup, quirky captions, and top-notch photography keep wannabe fashionistas following Nabilah for inspiration.
Nabilah Influencer Stats
- 137K followers across channels
- 129.5K Instagram followers
- 6,5K Tiktok followers
- 1,1K Facebook followers
- 3K likes per post
- 39% of her audience is from South Africa
- 34,313 true reach*
- 86/100 influence score*
Rich Mnisi
Rich Mnisi has been referred to as one of South Africa’s most beautiful men as well as one of South Africa’s top male influencers.
With a total fan base of 266K, Rich is the founder of the South African-based contemporary multi-disciplinary fashion brand named after himself.
He is known for his gender-fluid fashion, with his fashion brand rooted in his South African heritage.
Rich Mnisi Influencer Stats
- 266K followers across channels
- 208,1K Instagram followers
- 58K Twitter followers
- 10.4K engagement/post
- 60% of his audience is from South Africa
- 121,519 true reach*
- 93 /100 influence score*
Thuli Mola
Thuli Mola is a South African fashion influencer known for her focus on modern vintage clothing and passion for women's wear.
Thuli is the founder and creative director for the fashion brand STYLE ALERTSA. She has also launched Style Masterclasses to address the fashion-conscious and women who want to dress in a befitting manner.
Thuli Mola is a great example of how fashion brands can successfully use social media.
Thuli Mola Influencer Stats
- 309K Followers across channels
- 245.8K Instagram followers
- 58.8K Likes
- 4,4K Twitter followers
- 3.4K engagement/post
- 69% of her audience is from ZA
- 45,748 true reach*
- 85 /100 influence score*
Nadia Jaftha
Nadia Jaftha is been crowned the Queen of content at the latest DStv Content creator awards. She took home three awards, including the DStv Content Creator of the Year Award.
Nadia is known for her funny and oh-so-relatable content as a South African female, with a focus on fashion and her daily life.
Nadia Jaftha Influencer Stats
- 2,1M Subscribers *
- 1.6M TikTok
- 8.1K Facebook
- 567.2K Instagram
- 54.8K YouTube subscribers
- 42.6K engagement/post* (excluding YouTube)
- 85% of her audience is from ZA
- 465,827 true reach*
- 91 /100 influence score*
* A true reach: The Klear True Reach technology uses machine learning to predict the number of real views an influencer gets per post.
* Influence score: Klear's 1-100 score represents how influential the influencer is on social networks. It is calculated by machine learning algorithms that take into account thousands of features such as engagements, audience demographics and skills.
Tip: Are you looking for the right influencers to partner with? Check out the top South African Instagram Influencers, the top South African TikTokers, the top sports & fitness influencers on a global scale, and this list of the top South African fitness & sports influencers.
How Meltwater Can Help You Optimise Your South African Influencer Marketing Strategy
If you love these influencers as much as we do, why not work with them? Working with local content creators can supercharge your marketing; exposing your company to large networks of people who can discover you on social channels.
Sponsoring content and social postings with people who influence your target audience is a great way to attract and engage consumers who might not know about you or don’t respond to industry advertising.
Developing partnerships with the right social influencers can continue to deliver returns for your influencer marketing initiatives for years to come. We recently launched a report highlighting the top trends in influencer marketing to help solidify your influencer marketing strategy.
To find the trending South African Fashion influencers to work with your brand, to learn more about how the Meltwater Social Influencer Marketing Platform can find the best South African social influencers to drive engagement and deliver a great ROI.
