People in the City: From rejection to retail success

“Knowledge is power,” says Foreshore resident Michéla Lewis, 37, who rose through the ranks to become a visual project lead at a flagship retail store at the V&A Waterfront.

When Michéla heard “no” – not once, but twice – she refused to let rejection define her. 

Instead, she turned it into motivation. “A no doesn’t mean it’s never going to happen for you. It just means you’re not ready yet. You take that advice, act on it, and prepare for the next time,” she said.

Denied the chance to step into her current position twice, Michéla took matters into her own hands and worked to improve. “The more you plan, the smoother everything else goes. And when you finally see it all come to life, it’s the best feeling. Just last week, I nearly cried walking through a store, seeing how beautifully everything came together,” she says.

For Michéla, retail is a serious career, not a stopgap. “People see it as a side hustle or something to do in the meantime. But this isn’t just a job for me – this is my career,” she said.

Originally from Mitchells Plain, Michéla said she attended high school in Claremont, where she faced pressure to study further. Although she considered becoming a lawyer, her love for fashion led her to obtain a Diploma in Fashion Design. 

She completed her first year before realising her true interest lay not in design, but in pattern making. After taking a gap year, she began working in retail fashion stores in Claremont, where she found her calling in visual merchandising.

“All I ever wanted to do was dress a mannequin in the store. I used to ‘steal with the eye – I’d watch how displays were done and then try it myself.”

“Stealing with the eye has landed me in some amazing fashion retail jobs, especially the one I’m doing now,” she said

“There’s art in the way you dress a mannequin or design a store layout. People think we just pack shelves and hang clothes, but there’s a method. Everything is placed a certain way to make it a bestseller,” she said.

Even the window displays, she says, are carefully designed to capture attention and draw people into the store.

Her passion for fashion runs deep in her family. Her grandfather had a sharp sense of style, while her mother, Brionneé, once crowned Ms Mitchells Plain and Ms Portlands, and was a former fitness model, inspired her from an early age. 

“Seeing those pictures made me think my mom was a fashionista and someone I looked up to,” she said.

As the middle child of three, Michéla’s love of fashion began with hand-me-downs.  “I think that’s where my extrovertedness with fashion came from. I’d wear oversized shirts, manga tees and boardshorts, looking like a girly boy – but I owned it.” 

Many of her relatives also worked in clothing factories and made their own garments.

She moved to the United Kingdom from 2001 to 2004. During family trips across Europe, she paid close attention to how people dressed, noting how every culture told its own story through fashion. 

She still remembers walking down the Champs-Élysées in Paris, mesmerised by the glittering high-fashion mannequins in store windows. “My eyes twinkled. That’s when I knew I loved fashion,” she said.

Her ambitions remain global. “The ultimate goal is Japan. I want to take everything I’ve learned here and apply it on a bigger stage. That’s why I built my ‘backpack’ of skills – so no matter where I’m placed, I’ll be ready,” she said.

Working in the V&A Waterfront, Michéla says there’s no place like home. She sometimes travels around South Africa to assist other stores, but the busy, tourist-filled Waterfront remains her favourite workspace. 

Michéla’s advice to others is simple but powerful: “Block out the noise and keep moving. When someone tells me no, I think, ‘I’ll prove you wrong.’ Surround yourself with people who believe in you, but most importantly, believe in yourself. Knowledge is power. Learn, learn, learn – never stop. And don’t ever be afraid to ask questions. There’s no such thing as a stupid question.”

• People in the City shares the stories of individuals who live and/or work in and around the Cape Town CBD, highlighting how the community shaped their journeys.