Merchants Unveils Limited-Edition Blankets by Stephanie Bentum

South African textile artist Stephanie Bentum has created a limited-edition series of hand-felted blankets exclusively for Merchants, under the creative direction of Tiaan Nagel.

WORDS Palesa Mohola PHOTOS Courtesy of Merchants

Merchants has transformed into a contemporary space that champions installation-based storytelling through African design. The newly released limited-edition hand-felted blanket series – a collaboration between textile artist Stephanie Bentum and Merchants’ creative director Tiaan Nagel – is a continuation of Merchants’ evolution and ongoing commitment to local makers and collectable design.

“We’re shifting toward a more gallery-led articulation, and away from traditional retail. In this new chapter, we’re working directly with a few designers from our community to develop products that are true to their handwriting, but original and unexpected. Pieces you will only find at Merchants. It reinforces our curatorial point of view; a filter our customers trust to be innovative, forward-leading, and rooted in craft,” says Tiaan.

For Tiaan, selecting the right collaborator is essential. “Authentic storytelling, elevated craft, and a strong sense of place. We’re drawn to designers who are already exploring these ideas in their product development. Take Stephanie, for example – weaving and wool are part of her family history. We were excited to work with her as both designer and as master craftsperson to create something that communicates that depth of knowledge in an instant – but in a directional, modern way,” he says. “It’s not about suppressing their point of view or translating it into ours. It’s about working together to arrive at something original, something that could only come from this partnership. I’ve always admired Stephanie’s ability to let the material lead the work. This collaboration gave us the opportunity to explore new colour palettes, scale and application while respecting the integrity of her process. The result is a collection that reflects a shared appreciation for craftsmanship, thoughtful design and pieces designed to be lived with for years to come,” he adds.

Released in three distinct colourways – Natural, Multi-Stripe and Indigo – the limited-edition collection demonstrates how subtle shifts in colour, texture and composition create different expressions of Stephanie’s felt-making practice, with pieces that move between throws, blankets and sculptural accents within the home.

“Every collaboration asks different questions of the material,” says Stephanie. “Working with Tiaan encouraged me to rethink not only colour and proportion, but where my felted knit practice could go next. It challenged me to explore familiar materials in unfamiliar ways, creating pieces that could live in new ways while remaining true to the hand of the maker.” The collaboration began with a clear creative brief. “I received a mood board, packed neatly into a specific size with three colour stories – seaside blues, natural clay tones and vibrant coloured stripes,” she explains. ”Collaborating with Tiaan wasn’t about changing my personal style but an interpretation of his concept based on an existing technique by introducing a new colour story.”

Felt is essentially a non-woven fabric made by compressing fibres together. Since heating causes wool fibres to shrink, one of the main challenges in creating pieces for this collection was the finishing process. “The yarn for the knitted base is treated with a ‘Superwash’, and the top layer comprises non-Hercosett wool tops, resulting in one fibre shrinking and the other not,” explains Stephanie. This meant she had to work out the exact dimensions of the knit and develop a production technique during the fulling process to achieve the desired size of the throw. “Despite first doing test runs, going into production we had to be conscious of the tightening of the different fibre qualities during the complete process and in particular at the finishing and drying stages. It was important to ensure that technical constraints did not hurt the creative process,” she says.

“The handmade nature of a product involving skilled artisanal labour with a keen eye on careful structural detail, including the use of colour combinations, evokes an emotional connection to the item placed in a space where the touch of texture transcends basic function and elevates into luxury,” she adds.

Stephanie has spent more than a decade exploring the technique across fashion, interiors and film, using locally sourced merino wool and mohair from farmers who follow animal-friendly practices. “I only work with natural fibres; it’s my mantra. The blankets are made from 100% South African merino wool, which is a highly tactile texture,” she says.

The Merchants x Stephanie Bentum limited-edition collection is available in-store and online. merchantsonlong.co.za | stephaniebentumtextilemaker.com

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