Zazise was not born by accident. It began with a question — and a refusal.
Why is African heritage so often confined to Heritage Day, umgidi, or traditional weddings — as if our cultures are costumes to be dusted off, not styles to be lived?

Our founder and creative director, Lusanda Jiya, grew up in the 1970s in Alice, South Africa, during a time when glimpses of the Afro and dashiki era in the US felt like transmissions from another world. At home, her mother and other women founded a cooperative called Zikhulise. Local artists created litho prints — some still hanging in her parents’ home — and turned them into mbhaco ensembles. Those moments taught her that fashion could be more than decoration; it could carry identity, memory, and defiance stitched into every seam.

For decades, Lusanda built a career in corporate leadership, where image, voice, and trust shaped her professional world. Yet privately, her transformation had already begun — through the simple, powerful act of wearing her identity daily. Over time, that act of personal conviction became design language.

In her 50s, she answered a quiet calling: she went to fashion design school. What began as a personal evolution became Zazise — a brand born of experience, heritage, and a deep belief that African fashion belongs in every space.