Anyone who has been to the original Merchants on Long in Cape Town will know what a delightful world awaits in the store. Housed in a building on Long Street that dates back to the founding years of the city, its original Victorian-era terracotta façade entices you to venture in. But once through its imposing door, a tropical forest-like interior opens up, full of colour and light. Here, it’s impossible not to spent time discovering the wondrous fashion, design and beauty treasures that surround you – all hand crafted in Africa, all wedded to sustainability.

“The original vision for Merchants was to showcase incredible creatives from the continent, which at the time were underrepresented internationally,” explains Hanneli Rupert, who founded Merchants in 2010. She is also owner of accessories brand, Okapi, and is counted among the BoF 500 thanks to her long-standing advocacy of ethical luxury from Africa. Today, the landscape is much changed as the fashion world has woken up to the talent coming from Africa who are now innovating the global game. And Merchants, now recognised as the original African concept store, continues to champion them.

This summer saw the brand become sponsor of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s landmark exhibition, Africa Fashion, which tells the story of the scene from the independence era to the present day (read more about the show and Nataal’s participation in it here) .

And this autumn, Merchants opened its first London pop-up. In keeping with the storied location of its first South Africa store, this destination is nestling in Burlington Arcade aka ‘the jewel of Mayfair’, which has housed desirable boutiques since 1819. This new arrival shakes things up across two floors, bringing with it the latest collections from Thebe Magugu, Kente Gentleman, Ami Doshi Shah, Lukhanyo Mdingi and many more. “London is a global melting pot and a natural first choice to showcase Merchants outside of Africa. The brands have been incredibly well received,” Rupert adds.

Bringing the space to life, Merchants is also hosting a series of special showcases with their roster of designers. The first, during London’s Art Week, brought together South African artists Lezanne Viviers and Xander Ferreira for an intimate gathering highlighting their shared appreciation for creating one-of-a-kind luxury.

“This old-world arcade serves as the perfect space to celebrate the artisanal quality of the hand, which is infused into all our garments,” says Joburg-based Viviers. “The brand offers collectable and unique items that are intended to stand the test of time and become the heirlooms of the future.” She presents key pieces from her recent collections, Motherboard and Galvanised, which comment on the built-in redundancy of technology and concepts of waste while embracing the designer’s personal “upgraded identity” as a new mother. “Both collections are autobiographical to me and so felt right to stock them here in London as a reflection of what Viviers stands for,” she adds.

New York-based musician and artist Ferreira debuts two projects with Merchants. The art exhibition, Postcards from Paradise, has been created in association with illustrator Llewellyn van Eeden and pictures Ferreira’s satirical character, Gazelle, in a series of South African landscapes that tell mythological stories riffing on the country’s history of propaganda art. He also unveils a made-to-measure capsule collection, Safari Streetwear, made in collaboration with four South African designers. Ferreira went to Soweto’s finest Floyd Avenue for the ultimate safari suit; to legendary milliner Albertus Swanepoel for three styles of hat – the envelope, the bucket and the fedora; to leather good craftsman Wolf & Maiden for the sturdy weekender bag and shearling coat; and to streetwear pros Good Good Good for the leopard logo-embroidered cotton T-shirt.

“The idea of Safari Streetwear came out of my life between these different worlds. I’m from a rural part of South Africa but I live in this sprawling urban jungle. It’s beautiful to be in both of them so wanted to come up with an aesthetic that reflects them both,” Ferreira explains. “Then I thought about what it would look like to create a safari suit in Soweto and sell it in a store next to Savile Row. My father told me that in South Africa back in the day, you’d order a suit from from a Savile Row catalogue, get your local tailor to measure you and months later, this English suit would arrive. So now you can do it the other way around. I’m interested in creating intrinsic value and questioning the nature of luxury goods.”

Both the art works and the clothing items come with QR codes that reveal their makers and locations of origin. In doing so, the consumer is taken on a journey through cultures as each piece unfolds its story. “It’s about bringing different worlds together through these multiple layers of experience and in doing so, exploring ideas of place and space.”

In the same week, another South African designer came to town, Laduma Ngxokolo of MaXhosa, and together with Merchants, turned Burlington Arcade into a true catwalk spectacular. The Joburg-based designer is no stranger to London, having both studied and shown here previously. This show marked a riotous return to the capital with his latest Alkebulan collection, which sees his statement knitwear take on even greater and more wondrous heights.

“The collection tells a story of how I see Africans - originally known as Alkebulans. It is my interpretation of how Alkebulans would have looked and travelled the world if the continent had never been colonised,” Ngxokolo says. “London is one of the cities where you find the most diverse Alkebulans from different parts of Africa. So, it was important for us to not only showcase the collection to Africans but also to the diaspora and to educate the world on how far we’ve (Africa) come.”

Merchants remains opens until January 2023 so look out for more extraordinary happenings in the coming weeks from the likes of Laurenceairline, Imane Ayissi, Lafalaise Dion and Awa Meite.

Merchants on Long is at Burlington Arcade, shop 10-11, 51 Piccadilly, London W1J 0QJ until January 2023.

Africa Fashion is on view at the V&A, London, until April 2023. Find more information here.