Lulu Shabell

Tanzanian consultant Lulu Shabell is the founder and chief executive of Lulubell Group, a Geneva-based advisory firm that helps African fashion brands expand globally. Combining business development with expertise spanning brand strategy, sourcing, intellectual property and logistics, Shabell connects designers with international retailers and consumers through trade shows, showrooms, trunk shows and private events across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Her African clients and collaborators include Laduma Ngxokolo’s Maxhosa, Christie Brown and Asantii.

Shabell has coordinated fashion initiatives for Creative Africa Nexus (Canex), an African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) programme that provides financing, training and market access to Africa’s creative industries. Through Canex and other initiatives, she has brought African designers to major trade shows such as Tranoï in Paris and Tokyo. In 2025, Shabell unveiled Alke, a pan-African initiative combining an endowment and venture studio to channel capital and technical support into African fashion and craft businesses.

She is also curator of Brand63Africa, a platform connecting African and diasporic designers with key stakeholders in luxury markets. In 2026, she selected its inaugural cohort, whose five brands were introduced to Britain’s King Charles III at London Fashion Week and later featured in a pop-up at department store Harrods. Before moving into fashion, Shabell worked across tourism, hospitality and intergovernmental organisations. She was educated at Glion Institute of Higher Education in Switzerland, the University of Warwick in the UK and the EU Business School.