AFRICAN at heart

Two local fashion and accessory brands have found inspiration in the place we call home – they’re all about Africa.

- CAROLINE PETERSEN

ONEOFEACH

Pauline & Tamburai Chirume

START-UP COSTS: ‘We started with only R1500. We used leather offcuts to create our first 10 bags and sold them on Facebook. We had only enough leather to make one of each bag, hence our name, ONEOFEACH [One of Each].’

TURNOVER: ‘We are now a full-time team of five black women, and we have mentored more than 94 women.’

Originally from Zimbabwe, mother and daughter Pauline and TamburaiChirume use their design and business skills to create luxury accessories,homeware and apparel in an authentically African and sustainable way. Tamburai tells us how.

What did you two do before you started ONEOFEACH?

When we lived in Zimbabwe, my mom had a successful business manufacturing and supplying fashion items to big retailers. She’s a true self-taught visual artist and a fashion designer – she can create almost anything with her hands! We moved to South Africa around 1994, when my dad started the first black-owned travel agency in Cape Town. I went to Wits University; I started law, then did a bit of media studies… but I didn’t finish my degree. I just didn’t want to be in an academic institution after a very traumatic racist high-school experience. I ended up working in a bank for about eight years while my mom was making matric dance dresses.

When did you decide to team up?