Catching Up with Sarah Langa What She’s Been Up To in 2025 | 02 December 2025 — Transcript

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1. 0:00joined by exceptional content creator
2. 0:02Sarah Langa to find out what she has
3. 0:04been up to [music] this year. Let's give
4. 0:06her a warm welcome.
5. 0:10Thank you.
6. 0:11>> Hello gorgeous girl. How are you today?
7. 0:13>> I'm so good. So happy to be here.
8. 0:15>> Oh, we are happy that you are joining
9. 0:17us. Now I'm trying to think of words to
10. 0:18describe you and I think outside of
11. 0:20successful busy comes to mind. Sarah,
12. 0:23how in the world do you juggle all the
13. 0:24things you do? It's really difficult but
14. 0:26I think because I started off as an
15. 0:28academic, you just learn time management
16. 0:30from a really young age and how to
17. 0:32prioritize the things that are
18. 0:33important. So I just have applied the
19. 0:35same principles for this past decade and
20. 0:37it seems to be working really well.
21. 0:39>> Clearly it's because you are doing so
22. 0:40well. I'm also so happy that you touched
23. 0:43up on being an academic because clearly
24. 0:45education is really important to you.
25. 0:47How big of a deal do you think it's
26. 0:48played for you to come from that world
27. 0:50of academia?
28. 0:51>> So it was always my plan A. I uh
29. 0:54finished high school knowing that I was
30. 0:55going to be an academic. I wanted to be
31. 0:57an actuary or a doctor.
32. 1:00>> Of course you did.
33. 1:00>> And [laughter]
34. 1:02>> it only made sense that I needed a
35. 1:04qualification to do that cuz that was
36. 1:05the only perception of a path that I had
37. 1:08to success. So [music] this came about
38. 1:11social media, sharing my life online and
39. 1:14slowly became a job. But I always stayed
40. 1:17true to the plan A.
41. 1:20what
42. 1:24we are four qualifications later
43. 1:29[laughter]
44. 1:29I was doing 10 years ago and still happy
45. 1:31but it's nice to know that I can pivot
46. 1:33at any point.
47. 1:34>> I want to draw from the different hats
48. 1:36that you wear. A lot of people don't
49. 1:38know about SL Interiors. So please can
50. 1:40we talk about that? It's your interior
51. 1:42company that you have that's all about
52. 1:44African modernism and beauty. What
53. 1:46inspired that? Interior design is a
54. 1:49passion. I loved creating and creating
55. 1:52spaces. So, it was a no-brainer when I
56. 1:55looked into branching into a new career
57. 1:57path because after a decade of content
58. 1:59creation, I wanted to
59. 2:01>> see like what else is out there and I
60. 2:04drifted towards my passion which is to
61. 2:06create homes. So, I moved to London for
62. 2:093 years to study interior design to get
63. 2:11the qualification and then I realized
64. 2:12that there's a gap in the industry. We
65. 2:14don't have [music] a category within
66. 2:17interior design that defines what an
67. 2:19African home looks like.
68. 2:21>> Yes.
69. 2:21>> And I mean, you go to Paris and there's
70. 2:23like a specific aesthetic when you walk
71. 2:25into homes, hotels, and I just felt like
72. 2:28it was just so sad that when I think of
73. 2:30an African home, [music] I can't think
74. 2:33of
75. 2:33>> nothing specific comes to mind. Yes.
76. 2:35>> And I wanted to come back home [music]
77. 2:37and do research and find out what
78. 2:39creates an African home and how do we
79. 2:42modernize it? How do we make it
80. 2:44appealing enough for the everyday person
81. 2:46to want their home to look like that?
82. 2:48>> And that is what SL Interior is pivoted
83. 2:51on, creating African homes and
84. 2:54modernizing African aesthetics and just
85. 2:56trying to [music] create a narrative
86. 2:58behind what makes an African home.
87. 3:00>> Yes. And in South African context,
88. 3:03that's so important.
89. 3:04>> Moving on though to fashion, we cannot
90. 3:06talk with Sarah Langa without bringing
91. 3:08up fashion. I'm going to start with
92. 3:10Durban July this year because your look
93. 3:12was amazing. Tell me about that black
94. 3:14and gold look from Balain and how the
95. 3:16creative team came together.
96. 3:18>> So I spent 6 months pre-Durban July
97. 3:21obsessed with subcultures like African
98. 3:23subcultures and one subculture that
99. 3:24stood out for me was the Scott culture
100. 3:27and I think it's also because I grew up
101. 3:29in the time when being a Scotan was
102. 3:31super cool.
103. 3:32>> It was a thing. Yeah, it was really a
104. 3:34thing from the music to [music]
105. 3:36the just full on aesthetic outfits and
106. 3:38also just what the culture represented,
107. 3:40you know, and obviously Durban July is a
108. 3:43key event for me every year [music] and
109. 3:45Balman approached me and asked to dress
110. 3:47me and I was like, "Oh my gosh, this is
111. 3:48so perfect. I can't think of any other
112. 3:51brand that represents luxury and that
113. 3:53crossover of like European Italian
114. 3:56luxury with South African subcultures."
115. 3:58[music]
116. 3:59And it was just a no-brainer and tied
117. 4:01together with the theme as well. Like
118. 4:02this was a true representation of what
119. 4:04South Africa is, right?
120. 4:06>> Yes. I can't come to you and not speak
121. 4:08about business or fashion because that
122. 4:10was a big deal. Sarah, how in the world
123. 4:13did you manage to get on that list and
124. 4:15what was [music] the experience like?
125. 4:16Who did you meet? I have so many
126. 4:17questions. I don't [laughter] know where
127. 4:18to start. So, I'll give it to you.
128. 4:20>> It's still a pinch me moment for me.
129. 4:22Like it just happened a few weeks ago
130. 4:24and being able to remember that like I
131. 4:26was in a room with all of the biggest
132. 4:28global stars from like Wisdom Cade who's
133. 4:31like [music] I mean look up to him what
134. 4:33he's been able to do in the digital
135. 4:35space and Kim Kardashian. I mean
136. 4:37>> I walked into the room and I was like
137. 4:39firstly I thought it was going to be
138. 4:41massive.
139. 4:42>> There weren't that many guests like less
140. 4:44than 100 guests
141. 4:44>> which makes it even more special.
142. 4:46>> So it was super intimate. I was like
143. 4:48talking to Ghana. I was like yo
144. 4:50>> hi. and he was so cool and because
145. 4:52everyone that was in that room was
146. 4:54someone that's achieved something. It's
147. 4:56someone that has been in the fashion
148. 4:58industry and been [music] able to make
149. 5:00such a major impact in their countries
150. 5:04or in their markets when it comes to
151. 5:05business and fashion [music] and I was
152. 5:08invited by a Nigerian designer called
153. 5:10Yinga Ash and he owns this brand called
154. 5:12Ash Luxury. So, I was there representing
155. 5:14his brand as a muse. And I think it ties
156. 5:17back into what I was saying about
157. 5:18pivoting into interior design and
158. 5:21African luxury and what that [music]
159. 5:22means. It's also just collaboration,
160. 5:24right? Being able to go outside of South
161. 5:27Africa and learn more about [music]
162. 5:30African fashion, learn more about
163. 5:31African design. And just being able to
164. 5:34like represent another African designer.
165. 5:37>> Yeah. And being the first South African
166. 5:39content creator who was also invited was
167. 5:41just like really such a pinch me moment.
168. 5:43>> You have achieved so much over the
169. 5:45years. I must ask what is next for Sarah
170. 5:48Lana?
171. 5:49>> Wow definitely focusing a lot more on
172. 5:53you know interior design projects. So
173. 5:55now I specialize in residential
174. 5:57projects. I want to go commercial as
175. 5:59well cuz I really think that it would be
176. 6:01incredible to see my work in spaces that
177. 6:05are accessible to everyone.
178. 6:06>> Yeah. And yeah, I have a luxury
179. 6:09consignment company called Luant.
180. 6:10>> Of course you do.
181. 6:11>> And I wanted to launch a rental platform
182. 6:14where people can take their designer
183. 6:15bags and put it on a rental option
184. 6:18>> and make money off of it. So I think
185. 6:21that's the thing like just going more
186. 6:22into entrepreneurship
187. 6:24and exploring all the different gaps in
188. 6:27the market and seeing how I can just
189. 6:28find solutions for these gaps. So yeah,
190. 6:32>> we are excited to see it. Sarah, thank
191. 6:34you for joining us, but we'll catch up
192. 6:35with you in a bit. Yes,
193. 6:37>> we applaud Sarah for all the incredible
194. 6:40work that she has done and we'll be back
195. 6:42with you right after the