From the humble beginnings of arguably Malawi’s top fashion designer, the Lilly Alfonso brand has grown far and beyond.
With several appearances at the world’s top fashion events such as the Barcelona Fashion Week and Africa Fashion Week London just to mention but a few, Lily Alfonso has marked yet another milestone to her already decorated life: online store.
The online store is the latest landmark as the fashion designer plans to expand further her footprint across the globe, she says.
“With the store, I am not only targeting Malawians, but the international market as well; hence, people will be able to buy using bank cards like Visa Debit, Master Card as well as Paypal. For the locals, they can currently buy using Airtel Money as negotiations with other service providers are still underway,” said Alfonso in an interview soon after the launch.
She said people are moving fast with technology and it has to be embraced in almost all aspects of life.
“Nowadays, people are so much into their phones such that they are mostly on the Internet. As a businessperson, I had to move with the latest trends; hence, the online store where all the designs under the LA Mann and LA Womann will be found. People will just click on the code of the design of their choice and follow steps,” she said.
The launch of the online store has come just three months after the fashion designer opened a 28-manned factory in Lilongwe, where all the tailoring is done. So far, 35 people, including Alfonso, are employed under the LA brand.
According to the designer, the next big project she will embark on is to come up with the website that will bring together local fashion designers under one umbrella.
Said Alfonso: “The next big thing is a website which will act as a marketing platform for fashion designers in the country where they will sell all their designs. This is to give a chance to all those designers who cannot manage to create a website and sustain it.
“There will be a small markup to the original price which will go to us while the seller gets the original price.” n
