House of Xandria: Malawi couture with room for designers with disabilities
Xandria Kawanga started with a hand-sewn dress at 18. Her brand now dresses stars and runs Malawi's first inclusive runway.
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Lilongwe — Malawian designer Xandria Kawanga launched her label in 2015, aged 18, by hand-sewing a little black dress, photographing a friend in it and posting it on Facebook. The orders came quickly.
Today House of Xandria is a luxury brand with a showroom in Lilongwe and 15 staff. It has dressed Nigerian singer Tiwa Savage, South African celebrity Khanyi Mbau and Malawian rapper Gwamba, and is a favourite of Malawian ministers and mayors.
Fashion with a cause
- In 2020 a dress made entirely of recycled newspaper went viral as a statement on sustainability.
- In 2021 the brand launched All Shades of Beautiful, Malawi's first inclusive runway, where designers and models with physical disabilities take centre stage. It began with 20 designers and is now in its fourth year.
Kawanga says the lack of fabric mills in Malawi pushed up costs, so she opened Fabric Universe, which supplies fine lace and satins to her own atelier and to other designers. She is now exploring fabric made from banana fibre. The brand has also added menswear and an interior design arm.
House of Xandria was recently chosen as one of 15 finalists, from more than 700 applicants, for Création Africa, an incubation programme for creative businesses in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi backed by the French embassy and French Institute.
Source: Daily Maverick, 28 October 2026.
