After months and months and more months of waiting… and having to put up with all the snooty people from Jozi & Durbs bragging about being able to shop at Zara while we couldn’t… it is finally here.  Today they are officially opening their doors to the public and I’m imagining crazy queuing followed by a mass shopping frenzy and a store system crash due to having to process way too many purchases in one day…

I was incredibly lucky to get a first look at the new store last night at their media launch and I was so excited and overwhelmed by all the awesome things, it felt like I was having heart palpitations.

First, let me tell you a bit about the store.  The Cape Town store is one of their new concept stores.  It has 1400 square meters of store space over just one floor which makes it easier to explore.  The space has been divided into various sections which have been designed to feel like dressing rooms, with walkways in between which should make you feel like you’re on a catwalk.  Then the lighting has been specially designed to keep the focus on one thing and one thing only, the fashion of course, but they also keep the environment in mind, with this store implementing various energy & water saving techniques.  Oh and get this, they have a whole design team dedicated to the southern hemisphere AND they get in new stock every week!  That’s just way too much for my brain to get around right now… *breathe Karisa breathe* 

The store has 3 sections: women, men & kids.  So there’s something for everybody.  We were first given some time to look around, then they took us through the store to each section where a Zara representative took us through the key looks for the season AND THEN they told us to come back at 6pm if we wanted to be one of the first people to shop at Zara Cape Town.  I recall at the point of hearing this awesome news I actually did a totally embarrassing air punch, like right there in front of all the fancy fashion / media people.  But I didn’t care, this was just waaaaaay to exciting for my body to handle without letting some of the energy out.

Upon our return at 6pm I felt like one of those kids on that old TV show, Reggies Toy Rush.  Any of you remember it?  Basically they would give a kid a trolley and like 30 seconds or something to run through a Reggies toy store and put as many things possible into his/her trolley.  The expression on those kids faces & their pure determination was just so classic.  Last night, that was me.  But instead of a trolley, I had my quivering credit card.

Now let’s talk clothes.  The Zara womens section is divided into 3 labels:  Zara Woman which is your more high-end things, Zara Basics which is your more every day things and then Zara TRF which is more trendy/edgy stuff.  Key looks for spring/summer will be: studs, pastels (think ice cream colours), prints (anything from floral to leopard), lace, peplum (that’s when there’s accents over the hip area, like the red dress below), intricate detail like beading or feathers and aquatic (an homage to the ocean).  Here’s some piccies to show you what I mean:

Freakin’ amazing right?  I felt like even the food they were serving were based on this season’s hottest trends:

Brights, pastels & citrus?

Then shoes… OMG where do I even begin… I can’t really explain how incredible the shoe collection is.  I’m just gonna have to show you what I’m calling my “shoe porn” picture collage.  First up, heels:

And then some flats & wedges:

As for bags, studs & bright colours are HUGE, and I love it:

And how cool is this, they even have a Cape Town fragrance:

Ladies, now pricing wise you’re looking at about R329 – R499 for denims, around R659 – R999 for the big leather bags, sexy heels for R499 – R799, dresses at R599, shorts at R329, blazers at R659 and printed Ts at R259.  If I compare these prices with what you pay at Zara overseas, it’s very much on par with what I was spending in Italy last year.  So I for one am a very happy chappy with that.

Then the mens section is also split into 3 departments: classic (your more smart / formal things), sporty (items which are a bit more casual & fun) and then modern (for the guys who enjoy taking fashion risks and standing out).

Pricing for the men looks a little something like this:  jackets/blazers R999 – R1599, smart pants R859, smart shirts R599, denims R659, hats R299, sneakers R329, casual pants R499, leather shoes R999 and leather bags R659.  Also pretty damn good for the quality you’re getting.

I’m just going to skim over the kids section cause it’s not really my area of expertise.  But they’ve got boys, girls & baby fashion covered.  And even kids perfumes! (which are 100% safe btw).

Something that really stood out was that everyone at Zara clearly loves their job – you can see it in their glow – then again, I would also be glowing if I was surrounded by beautiful clothes all day.

Here’s us with Eddy – one of the Zara international representatives and owner of the most intoxicating French accent

And here’s us with Italian studs, Fadi & George

Our goodie bag was just icing on the cake… looky at what the lovely people at Go4word PR put in them:

Ta da!!! Best goodie bag find ever!

So what did I buy during my mad shopping spree?  These lovely things: (who spent the night on my bed… cause I was embarrasingly cuddling them all night long. hehe)

Lace up flats – R499

Super sexy colour block heels – R499

Basic white T – R99.95, Lace shorts – R399, Yellow skinnies – R329

So get your butts over there boys & girls.  This is a store you’re not gonna want to miss out on.  I don’t think I’m ever going to spend money anywhere else again…

xxx