Seven Swans Stationery: New Product Range

INTERVIEWED BY Michaela Stehr PHOTOS Tasha Seccombe Photography

Seven Swans is known for their beautiful custom-made stationery. We chat to founder Anelle Mostert about design, their new product range and what inspires them.

Who is behind Seven Swans and how did you start?

Seven Swans is run by me and I have the best second-in-command designer working alongside me, Ella de Villiers. Very recently we have gained another team member, Ashley Erasmus to help with our product range.

I have a background in branding and advertising but saw a huge gap in the market for well-designed, affordable wedding stationery. That was five years ago and since then, the industry has grown tremendously. Apart from weddings, the stationery business is still a small one, and it felt quite natural for us to venture into the social stationery market.

We started off creating gift cards and tags, but soon broadened our range to include beautiful prints. With our wedding stationery, we really love working with old school (but luxurious) printing techniques, such as letterpress and foiling. We have used this experience to our advantage and created a range of stylish and on-trend pieces for the home, printed expertly in gold and copper foil.

What inspires you?

I love that the industry I am in is quite trend driven and I spend hours online picking up on the latest global trends and imagining ways of incorporating them onto paper goods. I am inspired by sophisticated, clean design, but adore injections of heart, quirk and grit.

What is a typical day like at Seven Swans?

Wedding stationery is still the main focus of our business and we spend our days dreaming up pretty designs for our lovely clients, chatting to brides and grooms and liaising with our hand-picked suppliers to make sure that all our designs come to life beautifully. The launch of our product line has been incredibly rewarding on a creative level – it has been such fun creating interesting, fresh things with our own taste in mind.

Describe your stationery in four words.

Clean. Considered. Modern femininity.

Where can we see your products and what can we expect in the future?

At the moment our products are only in a select few shops across the county. We are looking at making sure that all our goodies are also available internationally and excited about export opportunities. We have recently launched our local and international online stores and are really excited to expand our range.

You can shop for Seven Swans Stationery on Etsy or via their online store at seven-swans.shopstar.co.za.