Mungo - South Africa

“Ethical trading and integrity underpins our philosophy”

Located in the South African Western Cape at the Garden Route, 250 km from Port Elisabez the City Plettenberg Bay is located. A place of longing which 5200 inhabitants and our manufacturer Mungo call their home. In the early morning a small white bus drives through the townships and transports some of the 83 employees of Mungo to the still quiet Mill where 16, up to 120 years old restored looms waiting to bring the Mill to life.

It all started with two old looms
The new Mill, built in 2017, is located close to an old barn where back in 1998 Stuart Holding produced homeware textiles on the first two restored antique looms. Most of the looms are originally from England and are no longer produced. This was the beginning of a brand that stands in one of the most ethically unacceptable industries in the world - the textile industry - still for social and sustainable values by manufacturing products of timeless beauty and highest quality.

From flax to fabric
Sustainability and quality starts with the raw material. The linen yarn comes from an Italian traditional company called Linificio Canapificio Nazionale, based in Lombardy, Italy. Since 1873, Linificio has also stood for the highest quality and purchases the natural fibre - the flax - from farmers in Belgium. Linen is one of the oldest materials used for clothing and as an ecological fibre more in demand today than ever. This is because flax requires no additional watering, hardly any fertiliser, and the yarn is not bleached before it is processed into fabric on the old weaving machines at Mungo in South Africa.

The sound of Mungo
Meanwhile, in the Mill, you can listen to the sounds of the machines that weave the fabric in a steady rhythm. In preparation for weaving, the individual yarn threads are first arranged in long, parallel lengths of equal tension and wound onto a warp beam. This warp consists of 1000-1500 metres of yarn. Ones that warp is done it gets on the loom where from both sides the threads now come together and are tight in by hand. The result is 500 metres of the most beautiful and first-class linen fabric. Every metre will be checked in front of a light box before the kimono is tailored, sewed, ironed and folded. All of this steps (except of the laundry) take place at the Mungo Mill.

From the loom to your skin
Every Sunday morning I sleepy put on my light green linen kimono and sit in front of my coffee at the kitchen table. This moment only belongs to me, there is nothing on the agenda. In the kimono I feel naturally pretty. The fabric on my skin gets softer from time to time and there is this certain feeling arising in me: a feeling of appreciation and connection for the people who carefully woven this fabric on the old looms and made the kimono in the highest quality.

I know that this emotional quality goes far beyond an ordinary product and this kimono will accompany me for a lifetime. This is what a morimoment should feel like.

Enjoying that beauty on a silent moment.