Mall of Africa

The much anticipated opening of Mall of Africa happened today in Midrand. H&M was the first launch of the day with the media opening scheduled at 7am. A day started by watching the sunrise is always a good one and that it was!

The new H&M store is an impressive two floors with an H&M home section as well. We arrived in store, welcomed by the PR team, dancing employees and a fun media breakfast. After that, Mr Price's store launch happened with an array of gift vouchers, stylist sessions, a braid bar, doughnut stand and a make up artist station. 

Tenants unique to Mall of Africa are stores like Zara Home (one of my favourite stores, the scent alone is to die for); Women's Secret (an underwear and pyjama brand for ladies) ; the second Starbucks in Johannesburg and well fast fashion retailers that are bigger(2 floors) and better than ever before like Cotton On - extended to Cotton On Beats, Mr Price and H&M. If you're looking for opening specials Dion wired , Game, Checkers Hyper, Legit and H&M should be top of your list for the best deals. Overall however, I'd wait until the buzz settles before visiting the mall because the traffic is CRAZY.

Besides the unique stores you can also find unique merchandise within the stores like
the outfit from todays look post. This jacket can be found at the Zara in Mall of Africa along with some of the matching badges. I most definitely didn't regret going because of the amazing launches and I look forward to visiting again one day soon.

Jacket: Zara

Metal badges: Zara

Scissor badge: Boutique at 44 Stanley

Boots: Cotton On

 

All photos by: Lydia Wessels

Fun with Zando:

I've always been sceptical about online shopping. I've never been sure if I'd get the goods on time or if they would be the same quality in person, because let's face it clothing pictures can be deceiving.

Zando approached me about wearing their brand for SA Fashion Week and I thought I'd get out of my comfort zone of being the traditional shopper for a change; and so decided to wear their clothing for one night.

Zando is one of south Africa's leading online shopping platforms that stocks brands like Aldo , Jeffrey Campbell , Adam & Eve and many more. 

Zando so kindly gave me a shopping voucher to the value of R2500 with which I used to purchased a black and white Adam and Eve coat and the below clothing items. 

Dress: Adam & Eve (Zando)

Shoes: Zoom (Zando)

Sunglasses: My own

 I love the wrap detailing at the waist-line of the dress!

I was so happy with my online shopping experience I can't wait to shop from their site again! The quality of the goods was better than expected, the sizing was perfect and the delivery was instant. If that's not enough to be excited about, Zando has also given me the opportunity to gift one lucky follower a R1000 gift voucher. 

Rules of entry:

1) Follow myself and Zando on Instagram

2) Comment on my Instagram about my Zando outfit 

3)Tag a friend to do the same

The winner will be chosen at random in one week from today. All the best! It will be well worth it.

AKEDO:

I feel strongly about supporting local talent, which is why I like to dedicate most of my posts to those talented local designers and brands. My dad is a local menswear supplier of mens formal wear. Little did I know when I was growing up that seeing him deal with clients and come up with creative styles and designs for clothing, it would influence me so much.

When I was born my dad took a risk and followed his dream to pursue something he loved, clothing. This is the reason I feel so strongly about supporting local fashion businesses. My family wasn't doing well before my Dad started his business but the minute he pursued something he was passionate about everything started falling into place. He always says to me that I was the lucky charm, that everything started to go his way after I was born, I realise now that it wasn't luck but his hard work. I admire him and my brother who also works in the business just as I admire the many other individuals who make up the South African fashion industry.

One of whom is, Eleni, a talented designer from the brand Akedo. She has been someone who I wanted to feature on my blog for a while. She is a creative that isn't afraid to take a risk by designing arbitrary and beautiful designer clothing. Akedo showcased at the recent Mercedes Benz Fashion Week and I was highly impressed by every design in the collection,  the phrase "local is lekker," is the most fitting description.

To see more you can follow this direct link: Akedo

These are some of the unique garments from her collection which I found highly versatile, you'll see why below.

I wore the Akedo skirt in two ways:

  I also wore the Akedo dress in two ways:

Now to get ready for SA Fashion Week next week, I have some exciting give aways coming up during the week so keep your eyes peeled!

Photo's by: Layla Shaik Photography
Akedo social media: Instagram - @akedo_official
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