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Lulu Shabell, founder of ÀLKÉ
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TSL Conversations · Episode 02

Inside ÀLKÉ: Lulu Shabell on Heritage, Ownership and African Luxury

What does it take for African design to keep the value it creates? In conversation with Eva Winterer, recorded in June 2026, Lulu Shabell explains why two decades of showcases brought applause without ownership, and how ÀLKÉ, the institution she launches in Cape Town in November, is built to keep heritage and value in African hands.

Recorded June 2026 · 42 min · English

Lulu Shabell, founder of ÀLKÉ and Operations Director of Brand63Africa.

GuestLulu Shabell
Founder, ÀLKÉ

HostEva Winterer
Publisher, The Silent Luxury

Read the conversation

The full conversation, hosted by Eva Winterer · Recorded as it happened, not produced in a studio.

In this conversation

“Africa isn’t waiting to be discovered.”

Lulu Shabell · In conversation with The Silent Luxury, June 2026

Moments from this conversation

1 / 1

02.1 · 41 sec

Learn Your Own History First

Why should young African designers study their own history before European fashion history? Lulu Shabell traces adornment back 75,000 years to beads found at Blombos Cave on the southern coast of Africa, and explains how that knowledge lets designers enter luxury as peers with a canon of their own.

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What you will hear

  1. 01Why luxury lives in the cultural intelligence of a product, and why that intelligence needs a library.
  2. 02Why documented provenance changes how investors and buyers value craft.
  3. 03How ÀLKÉ combines an education programme, a venture studio, a centre of craft in Zanzibar and an endowment designed to outlive its founder.

Read and go deeper

A scarlet look by Sukeina, the house of Dakar-born designer Omar Salam, A couture sensibility rooted in Senegalese craftsmanship,. | Photo: Courtesy of Sukeina Dossier The Cultural Intelligence Dossier: How Africa Sets the Measure of Luxury Value tudio Namnyak, Nairobi, Kenya. Handloomed in natural fibres by Namnyak Odupoy. | Photo: Courtesy of Namnyak Conversation Lulu Shabell on Why African Heritage Belongs to Africa Kumesu. The Kito clutch in exotic leather, founded by Betu Kumesu. Courtesy of Kumesu. Interview The Architecture of Sovereignty: Lulu Shabell on Cultural Intelligence
Now movingAfrica Is Moving From Fashion Visibility to Fashion Infrastructure →

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