African-inspired design brand wins local and global acclaim
ONEOFEACH focuses on empowering young women and has just added two more awards to its impressive list.
ONEOFFEACH designs - Facebook
African fashion and homeward brand ONEOFEACH has won local and international acclaim for its work to not only create beautiful and sustainable products, but also empower young women.
The company's just walked away with two wins at the 2024 V&A Waterfront Neighbourhood Retail Awards in Cape Town - Global Brand Ambassador of the Year, and the Empowerment Impact Award.
This adds to an impressive list, including Top Young Entrepreneur at Africa's Growth and Opportunity Act’s (AGOA) Exporter of the Year Awards in 2021.
ONEOFEACH has also been invited to the United Nations three times to talk about its empowerment work.
Sara-Jayne Makwala King chats to Tamburai Chirume who used to work in banking, before co-founding the business with her self-taught designer mom Pauline Munemo.
Chirume says they'd always wanted to create something sustainable, and started the company off the back of a bag her mother created that combined leather and African fabrics.
The company combines modern fibers with traditional African-inspired textiles, 'ensuring that each piece tells its own story'.
Since ONEOFEACH's start in a home office in 2014, they now operate across three locations: their Watershed store at the V&A Waterfront, a shop in Woodstock, and a production studio in the Cape Town city centre which hosts their skill-building initiative, The African Academy of Fashion (TAAF).
"We started with very little resources, but with a lot of passion... and wanting to make a difference through a product that creates employment and has an impact."
"We're a team of ten and we're all women. Except for my mother and I and our operations manager, it's all young people."
Tamburai Chirume, Co-founder - ONEOFEACH
Chirume says their vision is to grow a company that is led by young people of colour 'who are excited about stepping forward' and also making the change in the industry.
"I think the times of just creating a product are over - you cannot live in a country like South Africa and just create a product that doesn't have social impact."
Tamburai Chirume, Co-founder - ONEOFEACH
Find out more about ONEOFEACH on their website, or follow them on Facebook.
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