28-year-old hair street culture blogger, Nix Dlova moved to Diepkloof when she was thirteen and says it is there that she learned to embrace her individuality “I lost my whole family; my mom, dad and brother all passed away so I moved in with my aunt in Diepkloof. It was an interesting time for me because your family shapes your identity and I didn’t have mine to do that, so I really just plunged into myself uninhibitedly. I was born and bred in Soweto but it wasn’t until I moved to Diep, the ‘cool kid central that I felt empowered to express myself,”
Self-expression quickly became the driving force in Nix’s journey, “Owning myself apologetically is my contribution to the universe and to Diepkloof. That’s how I Run This! I figured that the more I embrace my individuality, the more I free other people to be themselves.”
When she is not blogging, Nix works for a fashion brand in footwear buying and says that she values the ability to spend all of her time being creative.
At home, Nix enjoys the vibrancy of her hood. She says that over the years, Diepkloof has grown into a lively and artistic space because of the ground-breaking attitude of the new generation of Sowetans: “We are not afraid of anything. We are constantly redefining what it means to be African and young.”
Nix says that she is impressed with all the development taking place in Diepkloof, “In the past, you needed to travel out of Diepkloof for some experiences. Now all of that can be found here. From Zone 6 Venue to art exhibitions, live music and poetry shows and great food, it is lit!”