Soweto entrepreneur eyes international launch for bulletproof luxury handbag

We often hear about entrepreneurs 'turning their dreams into reality'.

Well, HN Luxury founder Hlumelo Nyaluza does this quite literally - the Soweto visionary gets the ideas for his luxury handbag range from the dreams he has at night.

Nyaluza says he is also inspired by his purpose, and by his Xhosa heritage.

"Growing up, I realised my purpose on earth was to empower other people through my imagination.  And I don't take my dreams lightly -  two years back I got a beautiful idea of a bag that makes the hands disappear into it, and I made sure that I partnered with the right artisans (to make it)."

The vision for HN Luxury is to be Africa’s first global ultra-luxury brand, celebrated for exceptional design and craftsmanship: "We aim to showcase the beauty of African creativity and allow the world to experience our heritage, hope, and grace through timeless design."

The range includes the Signature Premium Box Bag which features original fine art by African artists, an HN Backpack and the latest addition, the Bulletproof Shield Bag.

The idea for a bag that can stop bullets sprang from Nyaluza's own experience when shots were fired during an attempted break-in at his home.

The launch of this creation last year was stymied however, by a comma error in the website coding, that blocked purchases of the product.

"Close to 9,000 people wanted it; they clicked on the 'buy now' button but not a single order went through.... I lost out on my breakthrough million, but now I'm in the process of trying to get more investors and introducing the bag to the American and global market because there's currently a company that is going to release it in 150 countries."

The bulletproof bag contains Kevlar, a heat-resistant synthetic fibre first used commercially as a replacement for steel in racing tires. This means that the bag is very light to carry, Nyaluza says.

With the local market for luxury bags booming, he is positive about further growth for HN Luxury. The brand has also been covered extensively by international media, with one suggesting that HN could be 'the African answer to Hermes'.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the in-depth interview with this African design visionary