8. The story behind CORAL STEPHENS HANDWEAVING and their bespoke, handmade textiles
From its humble beginnings as a home decor project, Coral Stephens Handweaving has gone on to carve out a unique and special niche in the world of bespoke, handmade textiles.
Coral Stephens never intended to start a weaving business. But after moving to Eswatini in the late 1940s and needing curtains for her newly built farmhouse, she decided to try to recreate a fabric that she had once purchased in the Eastern Cape. It was made from woven mohair, at a missionary school – so between Coral and Sylvia Mantanga, an employee of Coral’s who was a skilled weaver and had travelled with her to Eswatini, they began training some Swazi women to spin and weave.
Once the curtains were made and installed, they were so much admired by visitors that people began asking if they could place orders for them, and so Coral Stephens Handweaving was born.
Coral sourced looms, had spinning wheels made by the excellent carpenters who were employed at a nearby timber mill, and formed spinning groups for women in outlying areas. Soon she also began dyeing the mohair, as well as using different textures of spinning, and combining pattern and texture in a unique style.
She originally chose mohair as a textile to work with because it spins readily, it’s made locally in South Africa and Lesotho, dyes well and behaves like silk – mohair curtaining has a gorgeous lustre and glow, and drapes beautifully too. The very evident “handmade” quality of the woven textile also somehow has a highly sophisticated feel.
Coral’s daughter, Jane Slabbert, later worked closely with her mother, and at this time the business diversified, introducing new ranges made from cotton and silk, and various types of woven raffia that were especially widely used in the then-nascent area of game lodge decor. Handwoven, tactile, organic fabrics were a perfect fit for these new spaces. Today, a third generation of the Stephens family runs the business, and the products it makes include carpets and rugs as well as curtaining and other textile products.
Says Murrae Stephens, “[Our] mohair curtains stand the test of time, even the classic undyed white ones that Coral first wove – we still make them. We’ve just completed a set with a fine strand of gold that randomly appears, for a home in London.” Because their output is small and bespoke, the brand has regular international design clients who keep coming back for more – right now, they’re working on orders for US celebrity decorator Nate Berkus, and for Soho House in London.
And of course they’ve also collaborated with a number of South Africa’s top interior designers and architects, from Michelle Throssell to Lesley Carstens. London-based, South African-born designer Hubert Zandberg (whose apartment is featured on page 90 of this issue) is a regular client too. “We work slowly, as the process cannot be rushed,” says Murrae. “We are very old-fashioned in that sense. We’re not interested in trends, we want to produce a sustainable, quality product that will last and be loved, enjoyed and appreciated.” coralstephens.com