A seven-year-old leathergoods manufacturer, based on the Rustenberg Estate in South Africa, has already made positive changes to the lives of its workers, and already has customers willing to wait months to receive the handmade products they have ordered.

The South African town of Stellenbosch is recognised by wine enthusiasts around the world. Its first vineyards were planted in 1682 on the 880-hectare Rustenberg Estate, with many more planted by Huguenot refugees from France in 1690; the town itself had been founded in 1679 by the Governor of the Cape Colony, Simon van der Stel, who had the foresight to plant huge numbers of oak trees which still add a tranquil beauty to the city, some 50km east of Cape Town.

Fast forward some 335 years, and the Rustenberg Estate, recognised as a National Heritage site, is still bottling fine wine from 120 of its hectares but its dairy was closed some years ago and part of the land is now left as a conservation area with over 1,000 plant species growing there. The dairy, a beautifully built facility, however, is now home to Els & Co, a small company with big ambitions to be recognised for producing the finest handcrafted leathergoods, especially for those who enjoy the great outdoors and going on safari. In just seven years, it has built up an enviable reputation in markets across Europe and the US.

Signed like a work of art

“I guess it was my collection of vintage and antique shotguns and the leather items that went with them that triggered the idea of creating the Els collection,” explains Ivan Volschenk, the company’s founder and CEO. “My background is in engineering, design and photography but it was the concept of reawakening the disappearing art of leather craftsmanship, where each piece would be the equivalent of a signed original painting, that really appealed to me.”

He has been true to his vision, which goes a long way to understanding and appreciating the sixteen-week wait between placing an order and its delivery. The product range has grown to include items for safari, shooting, furniture and travel as well as luxury items for those who “enjoy wine, whisky and cigars”. Once an order is received, it becomes the personal responsibility of the individual craftswoman who will make and take it through every stage of its manufacture. There is no industrial production line and every item carries the initials of the person who made it, just as with a painting. “Reaching this level of perfection has not been easy,” says Mr Volschenk. 

“In retrospect it might seem like a crazy thing to do. Adapting and converting the old dairy was the easy bit, and turning it into a working atelier. Our biggest challenge when we started was finding the artisans, but what surprised us was the discovery of unimagined latent talent and skills right on our doorstep,” he says. 

Not quite the doorstep; many of the women have migrated from Idutywa, a small town in the Eastern Cape, and the birthplace of ex-president Thabo Mbeki, 1,000km away from Stellenbosch, which as a major university centre, offered greater employment opportunities. Back home the women faced high unemployment; 65% of the 11,000 people living in Idutywa have no income and a further 10% earn less than £20 a month. Their stories are inspirational. With little knowledge of the competitive business world, they jumped at the chance to create something special and Ivan Volschenk admits that the key to the success of the company has been their enthusiasm for what they produce and a willingness to learn new skills. 

Tens of thousands of hours have been invested in training a team of some 50 women employees to reach a demanding standard of workmanship, where every hand stitch is perfect. Working with leather was a new experience for all, including the man behind the initiative. After studying at the university, he had settled in Stellenbosch and developed a successful career in photography and design for nearly 25 years.

In the social and economic context of South Africa today, Volschenk realised that it was vital to provide employment opportunities for women. As part of the company’s social responsibility programme, the company is in the process of launching a Craftswomen’s Trust that will own a significant share in Els & Co, which will further improve the lives of the women involved, helping to lift them and their children out of poverty. The company is also considering setting up its own clinic as attending the local health facility can involve extended waiting times.

Becoming a master craftswoman

Each woman has her own workbench and can make progress on a number of orders at the same time, which means there is a continuous flow of production. The team ensures that there are no wasted hours “watching glue dry”, as Ivan Volschenk describes it. The staff are able to improve their grades as their skills develop; after an apprenticeship, they become craftswomen, and it can then take three or four years before reaching senior craftswoman status and, eventually, master craftswoman.

All the leather Els & Co uses is veg-tanned bovine, sourced from three South African tanneries. Three different substrates are used. “We will use leather from other animals if specifically requested by clients, but we prefer bovine,” says Mr Volschenk. “It’s the same when it comes to the shade we dye [a rich classic brown] and finish for our designs, but if there is a special request for a different shade we can match that too.”

Every item in the collection is “hand made”, designed to be both functional and to last for ages, the sort of item that will be passed on to future generations. To achieve that sort of quality, the company sponge-dyes the leather by hand, oiled with Els’s own mixture of beeswax and animal fat. The leather is moulded by hand before being hand-stitched. Stitching alone can take a craftswoman several months to master. The beeswax is sourced locally from an apiary a short distance away from the plant. The brass metal work that items require are sourced abroad from small artisanal foundries and it has now reached the point that the CEO is planning to build his own foundry.

As the collection expanded, Els & Co. had to install its own carpentry shop less than a year ago; woodworking and turning was another skill the team had to acquire. The wood chosen to match the company’s leather quality is Ofram, or African limba wood, a dark wood that comes from Ghana, grown in two forests sustainably managed by a German company. It is considered one of the most beautifully figured exotic hardwoods. Some of Mr Volschenk’s designs also call for canvas, and he has found a 200-year-old company in the United Kingdom that has been producing the quality of canvas he needs.

Speaking to the chief executive, one is left with the impression that he must have energy to spare, besides being a great motivator of his team. Having a home on the same Rustenberg Estate is a great advantage — no long distance commute to get to the studio — and he still finds time to brew his own ale and plant his own vines, but just as a hobby. He has no intention of challenging the wines that the Estate produces.

All Credits: Els & Co 

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