South Africa’s bourgeoning luxury scene has huge growth potential as the middle classes begin to trade up to luxury. In June 2009 I helped launch and remain Commercial Director of the Southern Africa Luxury Association (SALA), a collaborative association that provides a forum for premium brands operating in Southern Africa to become better informed about relevant industry issues, create new business partnerships and raise brand awareness amongst wealthy consumers, opinion-formers and members of the press. As well as driving membership sales and strategic partnerships, my role involves trade presentations, member management, media relations and both website and social media updates. I also wrote SALA’s Year 1 market report, a 50-page booklet entitled “South Africa: a New Frontier for Luxury Brands?”