Enigmatic Cotton founder Mr Luyanda Majozi, an incubatee of the innobiz DUT Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, is a name fast becoming synonymous with podium finishes at entrepreneurial competitions across the province and the country.

The 22 year-old Mr Majozi is a dedicated fashion designer, who is a Durban University of Technology (DUT) Clothing Management graduate. He is currently pursuing his Advanced Diploma in Apparel Technology at DUT.

His increasingly popular brand Enigmatic Cotton, a brand churning out stylish garments for a young and vibrant audience, saw its humble beginnings at DUT through its entrepreneurial nerve centre, the innobiz DUT Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Mr Majozi is quickly becoming a decorated figure in the entrepreneurial awards circuit, with the latest piece of silverware on his mantlepiece being a proud third place finish at the annual Green Innovators Pitch Competition 10.0 brought by the 10th annual Green Youth Indaba at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre on Friday, 20 June 2025.

The Green Youth Indaba describes the annual competition as a platform to amplify the impact of youth-led innovations, contributing to the growth of the green economy and sustainable development.

It was not the first time that the innobiz DUT Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation was on the winners podium at the prestigious event, with Mr Luvo Gugwana, the founder of Green Arch Innovations and an alumni of the Centre, secured first position in the Green Innovators Pitch 8.0 Competition at the 8th Annual Green Youth Indaba in July 2023.

Never one to miss opportunities to showcase his business to a wider audience, Mr Majozi seized the chance to apply for entry into the competition through the Green Youth Indaba’s online platforms, a decision that then saw him being shortlisted into the top 50 cohort.

“After being shortlisted the 50 members of the cohort were given training sessions on how to pitch their businesses, including the business model canvas and other various training sessions online. We then attended a pre-pitching competition and I emerged as one of the top five finalists from the cohort of 50, against a group of entrepreneurs in the green ecosystem across South Africa who are really pushing well in their businesses,” Mr Majozi said.

He said that his concept in pitching Enigmatic Cotton at the Green Youth Indaba was to position his brand as an eliminator of fast fashion which is often low quality produced products which are quickly worn out and end up in the landfill sites thus creating land pollution.

“As Enigmatic Cotton, what we are saying is that it’s time to reverse the cycle and create products that are of a higher quality, but not only that but to upcycle and recycle clothing into the value chain again. Therefore, the concept was based on recycling old clothes and off-cuts that usually end up in the landfill sites by bringing them into the value chain once more become renewable products that can be worn again,” Mr Majozi explained.

He goes on to explain, with an immense sense of pride, that having been up against the aforementioned entrepreneurs in the green ecosystem, he felt ecstatic to have emerged as one of the top three winners walking away with a whooping R50 000 which will be handed to him in the form of equipment and infrastructure development for his business.

“I also received several gadgets and electronic devices, including a laptop, earphones, power bank and a Samsung tablet. Significantly, this funding will assist us with scaling our business and the acquisition of more equipment and infrastructure development that will also open more opportunities for employment. It will also assist us to be able to supply large corporates and school wear, as we’ve recently launched a school wear division in our business and we’ve already completed matric jackets for one of the Durban based high schools,” Mr Majozi explained.

Additionally, he said that this would greatly aid his capacity to produce and supply more of his trendy streetwear fashion.

“The experience at the Green Youth Indaba 2025 was beneficial because I connected with a lot of stakeholders in the green ecosystem field. I also gained mentors, partners that I will be collaborating with in the future and I also gained experience that will drive Enigmatic Cotton towards become a sustainable fashion brand and a sustainable movement,” Mr Majozi asserted.

Ms Nontokozo Ngcobo, the innobiz DUT Centre, hailed Majozi’s success on the national stage as another proud moment for the entrepreneur and the Centre, describing it as a testament of the student entrepreneur’s dedication to his craft and ability to soak in the multifaceted information imparted upon him by the Centre.

“It is a joy to see Luyanda’s upward trajectory over the past few years, particularly having first seen him walk through our doors as a shy young man with an idea that he wanted to make work but didn’t know how to go about it. That’s where we have come in as a Centre to help him, and many others like him, to become fully rounded entrepreneurs who are able to sell their businesses confidently to competition judges and potential investors and his success in the past number of years shows just how important that work is,” Ms Ngcobo said.

Taking pride of place on Mr Majozi’s honours list is being selected as a National Finalist in the 2023 Entrepreneurial Development in Higher Education (EDHE) National Finals in 2023, securing the first runner-up prize in the Start-Up category at the Guangzhou International Sister- Cities Universities (GISU) 2024 Global Start-Up competition in China.

To top it all off, he was also named runner-up at the National Presidential SMME Awards 2024, under the Department of Small Business Development and Finance Agency (SEDFA) which landed him another R100 000 towards developing his business.

Pictured: DUT student entrepreneur, Luyanda Majozi, who is the founder of Enigmatic Cotton.

Samkelo Mtshali