Light Box

 

- Zodwa Kumalo

'I always start with the most flamboyant, the most elaborate piece – like this blue sofa. This is where I get my visual cues. And then I either dress it up – like I did with the green daybed and the blue rug – or pull it back a bit.’ That’s how fashion designer Fumani Rich Mnisi describes the way he created his new space in Johannesburg’s Maboneng district: ‘It’s the same way I design my collections.’

The LISOF fashion graduate founded Rich Mnisi in 2014 and, in the same year, was named African Fashion International (AFI) Designer of the Year. Catering to both a local and an international market, the brand, which is youthful, edgy, experimental and luxe, has been featured in international magazines such as Dazed and Confused and Vogue Italia.

‘I’m obsessed with the colour navy,’ says Rich, laughing. ‘I would have done the whole place in navy!’ Instead, he opted to ensure that all the other tones complemented the hue. The resulting interiors have obviously been curated by someone with a fashion editor’s eye: there is display shelving filled with neatly arranged, colour-coordinated jackets swinging off matching hangers, a smart pair of leather boots, a glass-encased male figurine and books stacked according to size. It’s almost as if you could shop off the racks and tabletops with carefully arranged glasses, vases and coffee-table books about art and design.