Located on College Street, in the heart of downtown Toronto, award-winning multi-brand retailer, ZAZAII will be fulfilling the Nigerian designer’s dream with this new venture.
The 1,000 square foot store will house a curated edit of independent designer brands of African descent and also introduce ZAZAII’s in-house and Nigerian brands to the North American market for the first time.
Did we hear you say blessing?
The curation which includes men’s and women’s apparel, jewelry and accessories will be available when the store opens for trade in Fall 2017 for the beginning of the Fashion season.
Creative Director and Founder of ZAZAII, Isoken Ogiemwonyi says, “with a few key brands and a highly curated space this is an incredible opportunity to finally bring a range of aesthetic and creative visions and high quality independent designer brands to the wider North American market. There’s nothing like what we do here and since Toronto is a growing destination for fashion (Saks, Nordstrom & OFF-WHITE just opened ), we are glad to have the opportunity to welcome its discerning residents to our store to discover African fashion”.
ZAZAII is not new to North American fashion lovers, a high percentage of its sales already come from customers in that region who shop via its online store and Whatsapp/Instagram.
Isoken further talks about how this major milestone is only a natural step forward in ZAZAII’s mission of becoming a genuinely global retail platform for African contemporary
brands. She said, “After our retail partnership with ZUVAA this summer, we gained invaluable insight, and realised a more substantial international presence was crucial to our continued growth. We are really pleased to be facilitating access to markets for our brands and partner merchants, ensuring increased commercial and promotional opportunities for Nigerian brands even if the Nigerian domestic market continues to contract”.
ZAZAII is currently in the process of choosing from its existing roster of over 40 brands to showcase in the new College Street location and is also reaching out to new and exciting brands from the continent, the US & Canadian market to join its platform.
