South African upcycling design company, Lilly Loompa, founded by the talented eco-designer Lizl Naude, opened its ‘first of its kind’ concept shop on 17 November 2021 in Paarl, Western Cape. Known for celebrating the possibilities of upcycling waste, Lilly Loompa is known far and wide for its quirky, upcycled décor items. But more than that, Lizl herself is known for her purposeful and environmentally-consciousness approach to design. A great example of this can be seen in the launch in 2020, during the pandemic, the “My Africa Lap Desk”, currently the brand’s most popular product and made with discarded, waste material.
The idea behind the Lilly Loompa concept shop
Lilly Loompa is a young and upcoming Design Company and produces décor items and furniture with a conscience. Its homeware is created through a process of hipcycling, which is essentially upcycling discarded waste and transforming it into desirable products that would complement any home. Eco-friendly, handcrafted and 100% South African, each Lilly Loompa piece, once trash, is now a meaningful piece of treasure. Compared to Europe and some first-world countries, South Africa is lagging behind in terms of seeing the value of recycling and upcycling. Over the last 5 years, Lilly Loompa Upcycled Homeware has been changing this narrative by producing high quality products made with discarded waste material and introducing them to the marketplace. Lizl and her team collect all their materials from neighbouring wine farms, construction sites, industrial kitchens and waste dump sites, after which they go through a process of cleaning and restoration. Finally they are transformed into beautiful and usable products to use in the home.
Speaking about the rationale for the launch of the new concept shop, founder Lizl Naude says:
“Our on-line shop has been very successful and people have been responding positively to our products, especially since the pandemic started. But we felt the need to showcase our range in a physical, tactile environment, hence the concept of a store idea was born.”
The Lilly Loompa Product Range
The Lilly Loompa product range includes the following products:
Snack Caddy – condiment holder upcycled from wine bottles and discarded wood
Table Caddy – salt & pepper & toothpick holder upcycled from necks of wine bottle necks
Africa Snack Caddy - condiment holder upcycled from beer bottles and discarded wood
Salt & Pepper Shaker – salt & pepper shakers upcycled from necks of wine bottles
Planters – planters upcycled from wine bottles
My Africa Wall Art – African map-shaped wall art upcycled from discarded wood
My Africa Cheeseboard – African map-shaped cheeseboard upcycled from discarded wood
My Africa Lap Desk - African map-shaped lap desk upcycled from discarded wood (exclusive to Lilly Loompa and the only one of its kind in the world)
Toona Can – storage holder upcycled with a tuna can
Slave Bell Lamp – desk lamp upcycled with discarded wood and tin cans
The story of Lilly Loompa
My family and I lost all our material possessions a few times between 2006-2014. This caused immense financial suffering and setback. During this desperate time, I prayed for a solution and I clearly understood that the way out for my family (and also for others) was WASTE. Lilly Loompa (Pty) Ltd has been trading since 2018 and currently employs three people and outsourced teams. We aim to clean South Africa through innovative upcycling. Our goal is to lessen the amount of waste to landfill by designing and manufacturing desirable and usable homeware products that people can purchase on our on-line store and our B2B infrastructure, and now our physical retail concept shop. Through our enterprise, we are hoping to increase the awareness about the circular economy by running various campaigns on our social media and marketing platforms to raise awareness on what can be done with waste material. There is value found in waste and opportunities available for the communities of Stellenbosch and Paarl areas (where we are based), through collecting waste, and earning an income doing it. A highlight was being named the SiAWECCA Award Winner 2020 in the South African Women Entrepreneur in Climate Change Award.
For those wanting to visit the new Lilly Loompa store in person, it is located in Paarl Nursery, R45, Section 2, Farm 1348, Simondium Road, Southern Paarl, 7646 (Wild Emporium). Opening hours are as follows:
Hours: 8H00-17H00 (Mondays to Fridays)
08h00-16h00 (Saturdays)
10h00-15h00 (Sundays)
To find out more about the work of Lilly Loompa, contact Lizl Naude, owner and creative director via cellphone: Tel: +27 823205589 or email Lizl directly: lizl@lillyloompa.com Also, visit the Lilly Loompa website and social media platforms for more information:
