Renowned African fashion and lifestyle platform African Fashion International (AFI) opened its e-commerce store, House of Nala, in March 2020. The timing was ultimately perfect, as it gave African fashion designers an opportunity to broadcast their creations and sustain their businesses despite the world going into lockdown.

House of Nala has given African fashion designers a platform from which they can market and sell their products as a collective, supporting each other in the process. This allows each brand to grow their following personally while pushing forward African fashion as a group. It's this progressive mindset that led AFI to open a concept store in South Africa's tallest building, The Leonardo.

Situated in Sandton Central, The Leonardo is a lifestyle building where one can eat, work, shop, relax, and stay. With over 1800 pieces of locally curated art, the building itself shows the wealth of African heritage and how it can be represented artistically in a modern-day world.

The Leonardo is an aesthetic match for House of Nala's fashion, and therefore the perfect place for AFI to have launched their store. Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, founder and chair of AFI, says: “The opening of the store is the next logical step in our vision at AFI. While we aim to ensure a safe and luxurious shopping experience for our customers, it is simultaneously paramount that we nurture investments towards building local value chains for post-pandemic recovery.”

The House of Nala concept store is showcasing exclusive and first-to-market collections from Gavin Rajah, Scalo, Imprint, Adele Dejak, Mille Collines, Bongiwe Walaza, Ara Emporium, Michelle Ludek, and many others. It is open Tuesday to Saturday 10h00 to 20h00 and Sundays 10h00 to 14h00. Visit The Leonardo's Website for more details.