This week’s business in the Spotlight is Mungo Design in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, a business that also offers their beautiful products in parts of Europe and the United States of America.
Our story begins with just two old looms.
In 1998, master weaver Stuart Holding came into possession of two restored antique looms. He used these looms to weave limited runs of beautiful homeware textiles from what he called his “working weaving museum” – an old barn where passers-by could watch him work. He sold the resulting small textiles in his wife, Janet’s, shop. Soon demand outstripped supply and Mungo expanded production to a mill housed in an old dairy building a few kilometres away. Years later, things have changed; we have left the cows behind, moved to our very own mill and opened four stores in South Africa. Our one-man team has grown to a family of over 80, and alongside our South African/global site, we now have websites based in the USA and the EU. Although we are growing, our foundational values remain the same – to produce beautifully designed homeware textiles, woven with care for our community and the environment.
In 2017 the Mungo team fulfilled a long-cherished dream: building our own mill on the grounds of Old Nick Village, near Stuart’s original barn, and next door to our flagship store. The Mungo Mill is a testament to our philosophy of transparency in the production process, with the entire mill open to the public. You can read more about the mill and how we make our fabric here. And those two old looms? Still going strong.
Pursuant to our sustainability objectives, we underwent an audit for Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certification in 2020. We are now South Africa’s first GOTS certified textile weaving mill.
We believe strongly that what we create, and the manner in which we create it, will filter down to the end user and help to improve the world we live in. We’re using the art of weaving in a contemporary manner to create quality products for people to treasure. Ethical trading and integrity underpins our philosophy, and we are particular about sourcing quality natural fibres. Our fabrics are constructed to stand the test of time – we believe in creating textiles that are made to last and not destined for landfill.
As a part of our sustainability, transparency and traceability objective, we hope that when people understand where something comes from and how it is made, they will value it more, and in turn this can help encourage conscious purchasing decisions.
AfriForum Worldwide’s World Guide is where South African businesses from across the world meet to form a community. The World Guide at present contains more than a thousand five hundred businesses and points of contact.
Jump in – and become part of this network! Networks are more than just businesses: they also are an excellent way to form a support base for those days when you just can’t wait for enjoying a good South African wine, socialising at a braai and the vital Afrikaner hospitality.
Contact Mungo Design
Click here to visit Mungo Design’s website.
Click here for Mungo Design on AfriForum Worldwide’s World Guide.
Do you think your business deserves time in the spotlight? Let us know at wereldwyd@afriforum.co.za
