IN PICS | The funky, eclectic and electric in Rosebank

It takes chutzpah to open a new store in the current wonky retail climate — and when it’s as big as a half a football pitch, many might think you’re bonkers.

But if you’re two blokes who made a mint from your previous retail moves, chances are you might know a thing or two about what shoppers want.

So I was intrigued to see what retail smarties Arie Fabian and Paul Simon (no, not the American musician of Graceland fame) had cooked up for We Are Egg, their sprawling new local meets international brand offering that opened up shop on Tuesday evening in Joburg.

Having launched their flagship in Cape Town’s Cavendish Square, in the City of Gold the two opted for the ultra-trendy hub of Rosebank.

Heading up a black canopied escalator leading to the store, the first person I spot is Arie, whose family-owned Fabiani menswear brand was scooped up by the Foschini Group just over a decade ago.

Paul — whose YDE concept grew from a stall in Greenmarket Square in Cape Town to a nationwide enterprise that another retail heavy, Truworths, bought in 2004 — greets me a few minutes later.

While Paul said he had vowed never to go into retail again, Egg was hatched after the two found themselves chatting to top dogs at Old Mutual Properties, which owns a chunk of the country’s malls.

“I said, give [us] 3,000m2 of retail space and [we’ll] bring the innovation and creativity — of which there is an abundance, and there always has been,” he explains.

“We might have retail scars to show, but this is our ‘give back’ to creative talent,” Arie chimes in.

Egg, like The Space chain which also has an outpost in Rosebank and Thula Sindi’s AfricaRise stores (which held a sip-and-shop event for its luxury clientele on Friday evening), feeds local consumers’ yen for newness against the onslaught of fast fashion.

The opening drew an eclectic mix of folk keen to check it out: from upscale jeweller Christopher Greig and his wife, Susan, to funky YFM DJ Faith Makubung, known to listeners as Fae Fae.

I got a chance to catch up with my social fav, Peta Eggierth-Symes, say hi to Zizo Beda, meet LeAnne Dlamini’s cute daughter Zani-Lee and find out about serial entrepreneur Katie Mohammed’s upcoming TV project which she says is a women-focussed reality show which “is not ratchet like the Real Housewives”.

Beauty came in the form of Miss Earth convenor Catherine Constantinides and former Miss South Africa Shudufhadzo Musida, who showed up in a gorgeous African print number by a brand called Sherif The Tailor.

Checking out the store’s brands, which include cool threads from Rich Mnisi and eye-catching hats from Crystal Birch, I spotted funny gal Lesego Tlhabi and TV presenter Roxy Burger.

The night saw Seagi Mogashoa, son of businessman Tebogo Mogashoa, and his wellness guru wife Didi take to the DJ deck to spin tunes — while the crowd also loved the performance by brass band the Jagermeister Brass Cartel.

Foodwise, we snacked on morsels with a South American-meets-Asian bent — like lamb tacos, maki rolls and guacamole on totopos (that’s corn tortilla triangles) from Mamasamba, Egg’s restaurant which is due to open next month.