Roots: Made in Africa fashion industry pop-up tour comes to Cape Town

After its success in Accra, Lhaude Africa brings the Roots: Made in Africa event to Cape Town. This is a gathering of creative businesses, brands, professionals, investors and industry leaders, designed for business-to-business networking and creating a platform for deal-making opportunities that drive product sales.

The second edition of the travelling pop-up programme has partnered with Merchants on Long, an important African luxury boutique that is a pillar of the fashion and creative landscape in Cape Town.

Opened in 2010, the store is a platform for emerging and established labels from Africa, including award-winning brands Maxhosa Africa, Sindiso Khumalo, Lukhanyo Mdingi, Rich Mnisi and MmusoMaxwell.

“Roots is more than a series of pop-ups,” said Lhaude Africa founder Rhoda Aguonigho.

“It’s a celebration of Africa’s vibrant creativity and a bridge connecting African artisans, businesses and consumers across the continent. Through pan-African trade and collaboration, we cannot only showcase the brilliance of Made-in-Africa products but also foster a thriving ecosystem that empowers Africa’s creative spirit.”

Lhaude Africa is a pan-African platform and fashion community that empowers creative entrepreneurs, offering high-quality courses, programmes, events, accelerators and resources for a thriving creative ecosystem. Since launching in 2020, Lhaude has built a community of more than 5,700 creative talents and professionals across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and SA.

Roots happens over six days from November 4—10 and will host fashion stakeholders from across the continent — with brands such as KikoRomeo, Mangishi Doll and Sindiso Khumalo participating, and leading voices like Sulona Reddy, Tamburai Chirume, Errica Iacopini and Tracey Chiappini scheduled to share insights in panel discussions.

There are two panel discussions, scheduled for November 5 and 7, which will tackle themes on readying businesses for growth and what community means in 2025 and how to leverage it to glue African fashion together.

Registrations for panels are now open and space is limited. You can register here.