“Support Local” and “Handmade in South Africa” are
probably two of the most important things in Deidré Luzmore’s world. Deidré is born in South Africa and
loves her country dearly. She always wondered why not show what her exceptionally
beautiful country has to offer to people around the world? It sounds like such
an obvious thing to do, but no one had done it before her, at least not like
this.
Cape
Town has been voted the World Design Capital 2014, and if you have ever been to
this city, you surely understand why. It changed massively over the last 6 or
10 years. This place is vibrant, it is full of energy, people are willing to
bring on change, and you never really know what is going to happen tomorrow.
Everyone is in a state of constant great anticipation, it really is contagious.
On the one side there are all these talented South
African designers and on the other side there are all the customers who would
certainly want to buy amazing creations, but how are these two groups supposed
to ever find each other? Most often the designers would sell their wares at
neighbourhood markets, and as we all know, no one of us can visit every single
market which is out there, meaning, the designers needed a platform as a way to
reach out to customers.
In our day and age there are only a few who are still scared
of the internet. For most of us it already is natural to book flights, order
groceries and laundry services online, we really buy most stuff on eMarketplaces’ these
days. Sounds like a simple solution for designers, but we have to be honest
here. Not every designer has automatically got the skills and
knowledge in how to best market products and not everyone can afford to hire
someone to build their homepage. Deidré clearly saw this and without
hesitation, the Mzansi Store was born. What does Mzansi mean? It is the Xhosa
word for South Africa.
Artisans
based in South Africa who lets say, create recycled Skateboard sunglasses,
Protea tote bags, Shweshwe dresses, or wooden Zebra cutting boards now work with Mzansi Store and offer and promote their goods in their own country and
internationally. Deidré fulfilled her dream, she shows the world what South
Africa has to offer, and with that she generates income for local designers.
What
do you think of this project? Is there something similar in your area? Looking
forward to hear from you.
