The ALI Project
The African
Luxury Index.
Building what comes next for African fashion by helping SADC designers shape sustainable, retail-ready luxury houses.
01 / Overview
Building the business
behind the beauty.
Across Southern Africa, incredible designers are making world-class collections that more than deserve a spot on the global luxury stage.
But if you’ve been in the industry long enough, you know the hidden hurdle: creative talent is everywhere, but the business systems, production supply chains and market intelligence needed to scale smoothly are often missing. That is why we created The African Luxury Index (ALI) Project.
We step in to bridge that gap. By pairing real-world business strategy with hands-on support, we help designers move past the day-to-day chaos, build solid operational foundations and connect directly with the buyers and investors who matter. At the same time, we are gathering the actual data our industry needs to unlock institutional support, retail opportunities and smart policy changes.
Equipping designers with the actual tools, like smarter pricing, clean supply chains and structured distribution, to run profitable businesses.
Building reliable market intelligence that helps investors and retailers see the true value and opportunity in African luxury fashion.
02 / The workshop series
From creative vision
to retail readiness.
The ALI Project Workshop Series is an intensive four-month business acceleration programme built for established and emerging fashion designers ready to take their brand to the next level.
Instead of cold theory, we roll up our sleeves across two focused online sessions a month to cover the real pillars of running a luxury label.
Honing your creative direction while building commercially sound line-sheets and range plans.
Turning mood boards into production-ready samples with clean construction, precise fit and proper technical backing.
Sourcing quality materials, partnering with reliable Cut, Make and Trim (CMT) studios, and putting quality control in place so you can handle bigger retail orders.
Telling your brand story clearly, building a strong digital handshake and refining your unique market voice.
Getting your digital channels and customer journey sorted so online shoppers can easily explore and buy.
Structuring your wholesale margins, polishing your lookbooks and mapping out the right stockists and boutiques for your brand.
The curated B2B showroom
Capability, turned into commercial opportunity.
To wrap up the journey, the programme culminates in a curated B2B showroom. This gives our designers a professional, high-impact platform to present their collections directly to retail buyers, media and boutique networks, turning capability-building into immediate commercial opportunities.
Who can apply & programme details
Tight, intentional
cohorts.
To make sure every designer gets high-touch, personalised guidance, our cohorts are kept tight and intentional.
Designer criteria
- 01You run a formally registered fashion business that has been active for at least 24 months.
- 02You have a solid grasp of garment construction, fabrication and textile work.
- 03You have successfully designed and launched at least one collection in the last 24 months.
- 04We give priority consideration to artisanal, sustainable and forward-thinking brands.
Key dates & investment
First cohort intake · 1 November 2026Applications close · 31 December 2026
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Fields marked with an asterisk are required.
03 / Market intelligence & industry impact
Solving the sector data gap.
If we want African luxury fashion to be taken seriously globally, we need data that reflects our actual market realities. Throughout the programme, we collect primary insights on production bottlenecks, supply chain costs and retail growth.
In research partnership with the Bureau of Market Research (BMR), we analyse these metrics to build a proper, authoritative index. These insights give corporate retailers, investors and policymakers the clear picture they need to back our creative economy properly.
04 / Institutional & corporate partnerships
Partnering with
the Index.
We invite retail groups, financial institutions, investors and development agencies to collaborate with us as we scale the future of African luxury.
Connect directly with a pool of business-ready designers trained in retail pricing, linesheets and production execution.
Access specialised B2B intelligence to guide retail expansion and creative sector funding.
Channel development capital into high-impact local creative enterprises with transparent metrics.
Supported by the Embassy of France in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi and the French Institute of South Africa, UVU Africa and CAPACITI through the Création Africa programme.
Inquire about corporate & research partnerships
