SA Rocks

My next couple of posts are not going to be about specific South African online shops, but more about local (fabulous) designers who sell their handmade products through various online channels.

The first young lady I’d like to tell you about is the owner of The Wren Design. She’s based in Cape Town, sells her goods through Etsy and Dawanda, and blogs about all her experiences and thoughts regarding her business.

I sent through a few questions to Wendren, and here’s what she had to say:

• What exactly are you making and selling?

I make bags: handbags, totes, cute little bird purses/pouches, sling bags, market bags ….
My most recent style is the Organic Coffee Sling Bag which is made from found, old and unwanted jute coffee sacks that have been worn wonderfully soft. They are lined with organic hemp canvas for stability and a lasered wooden button closes them. They are 100% organic (no zips, no frills… a simple, beautiful and perfect bag).

Three things happened at the same time which has lead me to be where I am today: 1. I was not enjoying my desk job as a Textile Designer. 2. I was shown how to blog by a friend and wanted to give it a try. 3. I was searching for a new bag and could not find one I liked so I decided to try and make one. My bag was a hit and I decided to take the plunge: resign to make bags to sell online and market the journey through my blog. Now, 8 months later, that is what I am still doing and I am loving it.

All over the place really. Nature and my environment is a huge inspiration for me and as much as I can, I try and include sustainable aspects into all my products. For example, most of the fabrics used are from the ends of fabric rolls. Usually this is thrown away because although the quality is in no way inferior, the quantity is limited. The little bird pouches are made from the scraps of the Big Town Bags and the scraps from the Bird Pouches are made into selvage cosmetic bags. Basically waste is minimized as far as possible.

The Wren is another business which not only takes the environment into consideration, but is trying to create jobs too. Wendren is helping to create employment by using unemployed ladies from her local community to sew for her. We at Babazeka love this (and the Wren products) so much, that we’ll hopefully be stocking some in our shop soon.

For now, though, if you’re interested in purchasing some beautiful Wren Bags as Christmas gifts, you can go shopping here and here. Have fun!

Similar Posts:

• Shopping with Jezze
• Shopping with Faithful to Nature
• Win with Mantality – an online store for the gents

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