It’s apt and a wonderful alignment that a one year anniversary celebration is marked as the paper year. Although YourLuxury Africa has developed into an all-rounder platform, the journey started just over a year ago with a print luxury magazine entering the scene. The December 22/January 23 issue was our first love letter to the African continent and with 12 issues under our expanding belt, we just had to celebrate our paper milestone in style.
Steyn City, a groundbreaking luxury residential estate that stretches across 2000 acres of verdant parkland served as an ideal setting to celebrate luxury through an African lens. Guests who gathered at its Brand Experience Centre were greeted with welcome drinks from two dedicated bars. A selection of South African cultivated Terre Paisible Vigne d’Or range wine and Cap Classique flowed from the wine bar while the Honor Cognac bar served refreshing cognac infused cocktails that kept guests coming back.
In a tastefully decorated room, the history of the magazine was displayed as an appropriate backdrop for the occasion. Framed past covers featuring memorable YourLuxury Africa cover icons such as well renowned ceramicist Zizipho Poswa, Lagos based designer Bubu Ogisi, seasoned marketer and impassioned ambassador for travel on the continent, Thebe Ikalafeng, globally respected visual activist Zanele Muholi and many other African history makers served as a reminder of our trajectory over the past year.
Editor in Chief Ntokozo Maseko alluded to the importance of capturing history in real time by saying that the driving force behind the magazine was to leave a tangible account for future generations of who lived and had influence in our time. “A magazine and all its related activity, including events like this evening, serves to capture a sense of the times in a most elegant way. Anyone who picks up a YourLuxury Africa magazine 50 years from now will know who was in the proverbial room, they’ll know who lived, what we ate, what we wore, the cars we drove, what we valued in work and leisure. These will become valuable markers of time for future generations,” she said.
MD and Co-Founder of YourLuxury Africa, Yvonne Shaff, shared personal anecdotes about the genesis of the brand revealing that what her and fellow co-founder Jacquie Myburgh-Chemaly thought would be a watch blog similar to the respected Hodinkee platform soon snowballed into a monthly print publication that has ultimately become a fully fledged print, digital and eventing offering which in the space of just over a year is proudly the biggest monthly luxury lifestyle title and which will be expanding into other regions of the continent,” she stated.
When the formalities and heartfelt acknowledgement of the crucial support received from clients, collaborators, celebrated figures, event partners and regular contributors were all done and dusted, guests sampled flavourful bites from the capable Johannesburg based caterer, Fresh Catering, while talented female saxophonist Cathy Del Mei, armed with a Swarovski encrusted saxophone, filled the room with catchy contemporary tunes as guests mingled, laughed and raised glasses to African excellence.
