A marriage of minds

We spoke to Anna Verloren van Themaat about the Missibaba + Mevrou wool and leather range she’s created with Chloe Townsend. 

Tell us about the Missibaba + Mevrou launch range.

It’s a niche range that we’re both doing as an aside to our regular businesses – I am a stylist who runs my own knitting business called Wolmer and Chloe is renowned for her leather handbag label, Missibaba.

We make two fashion products (a scarf and handbag), and two interior products (a cushion and a vessel). All products are available in three patterns (Arrows, Aztec and Checkered).

If you look at the prices, ranging from R910 to R6 320, they reflect the amount of handwork and material that goes into the designs. We do it because we love it, because we can provide work for the people we employ and because we can help sustain the craft industry.

How are the products produced?

The bags are made with 100% merino wool that has been dyed and spun in Worcester in the Western Cape. Each piece is hand-knitted in Riverlands. I then felt the individual pieces in my tumble dryer in Vredehoek, Cape Town. I’m working with a natural material so there’s no formula – I must measure each piece. The knitted pieces then go to Chloe’s workshop in Woodstock where they are finished using Namibian leather and pure cotton. A single handbag takes about four weeks, 830m of wool and 23 520 stitches to make. 

Missibaba + Mevrou products are sold at Missibaba in Cape Town, www.missibabamevrou.com, and Tonic Design in Johannesburg.