At Village Secrets shoes are designed and handcrafted and given a South African flair with Shweshwe fabric since April 2015 by Magda.
Village Secret shoes are available on HelloPretty, selected tourist focussed stores and ladies boutiques – as well as social media. Magda also mentioned that they are also experimenting with distribution through informal channels, providing an opportunity to ladies such as her helper, Emma, to supplement her income by selling in her community. This mainly works on a lay buy basis, which means that it takes about two months to receive full payment, but that just makes it more authentically South African.
Are you supporting local?
Village Secrets uses a local cobbler to handcraft the shoes; Sources Shweswe fabric, suede leather, soles and laces from South Africa.
How did you choose the name?
“At the time we lived in the beautiful village of Irene in Centurion (in Villagers Lane nogal) and I thought it could be an enticing name, especially when launching new designs.”
How involved are you in the manufacturing process? Do you design/make it yourself – or import?
“Every aspect of our shoes are South African. We believe in our country and all the beauty it has to offer. I have an obsession with shweshwe fabric and we know that most women just love shoes!”
On expansion…
“We are fairly new but have big dreams to expand not only our local footprint, but also help other countries discover the ‘denim of South Africa’ in a functional and practical handcrafted shoe.”
Village Secrets may be still in its infancy, but Magda already thinks of the job opportunities she could create. She currently works with a cobbler that helps to bring the designs to life. The cobbler is paid a fair price for each pair he crafts and working with Village Secrets allows him the time to grow his own business and service his own customers as well.
“We’ve recently produced a super sexy wedge heel sandal in a range of shweshwe fabrics. We have plans to expand our range of men’s shoes as well.”
What is your favourite Village Secrets product?
“I just love the fabric we use in the crafting of our shoes. South African shweshwe has such a rich history that very few people are aware of. Known as the ‘fabric that whispers’, shweshwe should take its rightful place as the ‘denim of South Africa’. Zwelitsha in the Eastern Cape is probably the only place in the world where the traditional indigo dyed discharge printed fabric is manufactured. You can read more about it on my website.”
What has been the best-selling Village Secret product?
The ladies blue T bar sandal and flame orange lace up has been best-sellers at Village Secrets.
“We’ve also been blown away by the interest from men in our shoes. I think people are wanting that something special, not mass produced.”
What is the must-have Village Secret shoe?
“For the coming ‘in-between’ weather you should stock up on pumps and lace ups. And ‘no’, we do not make black shoes. Life is too short and life in South Africa is too colourful.”
What was the best advice you read/heard while building your brand?
“A piece of the puzzle find its place and you get that ‘oh yes!’ feeling.”
About the owner, Magda
One of the biggest obstacles faced by Magda was having a full-time job that didn’t allow for a lot of leave days to attend festivals, tradeshows and other opportunities to build the brand. This has now changed… Magda and her family moved to the the beautiful Garden Route. She has left the corporate world and focuses on Village Secrets and settling the family into a new environment.
“After years in the ‘charity’ sector’, it just is becoming very clear and urgent to me that we need to create opportunities for South Africans. Charity is not sustainable and through the programme I was involved in during that time, I’ve worked with so many amazing social entrepreneurs who are finding solutions to our most pressing issues. The secret of their success lies in collaboration, realising that we all have a role to play and that whether you are the designer or the cobbler, we all need each other to make it work.”
Where can you find and contact Village Secrets?
Website: www.villagesecrets.co.za
Email: info@villagesecrets.co.za
Phone: 082 560 2131
Facebook: Village Secrets Shoes
Instagram: Villagesecrets17
Support Village Secrets, a uniquely South African company that believes in creating jobs and supporting local.
3 Comments
The shoes are veautiful and I didn’t even knew about it before this post. Thank you for sharing.
Wow, those shoes are so beautiful and unique. I can’t say I have seen anything like them anywhere else. We really do have amazingly talented local designers.
It really is amazing that we have such talented people right here at home 🙂