How did this whole thing happen...
Hi there! My name is Jonty, and in 2022, while visiting my family in South Africa, I was in search of an article of clothing made from shweshwe. During a visit to a local market in Hermanus, I spotted a pink bucket hat that was made of the material. It was the only one available at the vendor’s booth so I purchased it without much thought and wore it pretty much every day for the rest of my trip!
Knowing that there are so many more prints of shweshwe, I started thinking about how to get more of these hats.. so I reached out to the vendor that I bought it from and they directed me to Lesley. After some discussions, Lesley agreed to make 40 more hats which were sold over the summer of 2022.
Since then, Lesley has shared this work with Albertina and Felecia, two fellow South Africans that she trained in her sewing workshops. Together they make all the hats that are now sold in Canada.
