Afrocentric fashion brand Urban Zulu goes global following its partnership with Nubian Hueman, a Washington DC based modern boutique that sells African apparel.
Papy Kaluw, founder of Urban Zulu, says this partnership will not only allow him to have a physical store in Washington DC,but will also grant him an opportunity to introduce the brand into the global fashion scene.
“The roots of Urban Zulu have always been about African people uniting. This partnership allows Africans and those with African roots, no matter where they are, to experience Urban Zulu and be united through clothes,” Kaluw says.
The designer has already started cementing himself in international spaces. On April 12, he opened his first pop-up store in the middle of Manhattan, New York City.
He says this is something he’s always wanted to do but had to pause his plans due to the pandemic.
“Before Covid, we had just come back from the US where we had managed to get a place to sell. We were supposed to launch in April 2020. But then obviously lockdown came. Then we had other bigger plans in South Africa,” Kaluw says.
The brand that is loved by the likes of Msaki, Mbuso Khoza, Mandisa Nduna and many celebs also has representatives in Swaziland, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Botswana.
Kaluw is a self-taught designer originally from Congo but based in South Africa. He specialises in ready-to-wear clothes inspired by the spiritual world, connecting to the beauty and texture of the physical.