Thula Sindi embroiled in legal drama, Rosebank store 'temporarily' shut

If you're a fan of designer Thula Sindi's outfits and were hoping to buy one of his garments at his Rosebank store, you may have to wait a while as it has been closed temporarily while a legal battle rages.

TshisaLIVE has learnt the store at The Zone in Rosebank, Johannesburg has been closed for almost two weeks. It was initially thought it was due to "unpaid rent" but management at The Zone confirmed this was not the case. 

The designer, who has become a well-known name in fashion circles in South Africa, told TshisaLIVE that the closure was temporary and said there was a legal battle between himself and a prospective business partner.

"Upon further perusal of the prospective business partner’s proposition, Mr. Sindi’s lawyers advised him not to proceed with the agreement, as there were some clauses that were glaringly in bad faith as well as incongruent with Mr. Sindi’s business ethos," his team said in a statement.

Thula said the matter is due to be heard in court at the end of the month and he was confident the store would re-open soon after.

"This has been going on for two years and it's been a malicious attack. We will sort it out in court but everything else is going well. I have a show on Thursday at Fashion Week and I'm excited. Everybody is happy and it will be back to business soon."

He dismissed speculation that there was an issue over his rent and corroborated what management had said that "everything was up to date."