Rugs to riches: local designer upcycles vintage carpets into high-end handbags

25 May 2017 - 11:22 By Christa Dee
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Jessi-Jean Havemann makes bags and cushions from recycled carpets for her Balthazaar label.
Jessi-Jean Havemann makes bags and cushions from recycled carpets for her Balthazaar label.
Image: Supplied

When she isn't running with her dog or hiking, Jessi-Jean Havemann is making her ethically designed Balthazaar bags and cushions. She believes that anyone can have an impact with the right approach and a good idea.

We spoke to her about her love of vintage carpets and how this inspired the idea for Balthazaar.

How did you get into design?

I studied fashion design but dropped out in my first year to travel and learn traditional fabrication techniques like batik - a technique for dyeing cloth in Indonesia, leather manipulation and dyeing in Morocco, and sustainable and ethical practices in Thailand.

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Idea for Balthazaar?

I wanted to start a brand that operates ethically. I've always liked carpets - they're the first thing I look at when I enter a room. They're long- lasting, which is what I wanted. Balthazaaris about upcycling - using what we have and not depleting what resources we have left.

Creative process?

I source the vintage carpets from Morocco and air-freight them here. Once they land I consult the people I work with in Mitchells Plain or at my Studio in Hout Bay and start cutting them up and making leather patterns.

Then the carpet cut-offs get sent to CMTs with industrial machines to be overlocked. The leather pockets, labels, leather straps, pompoms and embellishments are then hand-sewn on. I also have an agent who brings back vintage camel saddlebags from Pakistan.

History of the original carpets and bags?

The camel saddlebags and the carpets are handmade by women in Pakistan for their husbands to use over long journeys through the desert. The latest in my collection were made by the family of women on their wedding days. They represent health, strength and guidance.

How do you empower people by creating your bags?

The people I work with have been trained by me. I hope to grow my team and be able to support more local families. It's important to me to create skilled jobs for South Africans.

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You say: 'A Balthazaar handbag has a unique story and an exotic character of its own.'

These camel saddlebags have been on many journeys across deserts and into homes across Africa. I think the energy of their past lives still emanates from them. One bag could have belonged to a camel rider alone in the desert.

Another could have been a gift from a princess to the love of her life, or the man of her nightmares on their wedding day.

Latest collection?

My latest collection of bags has bright pompoms and tassels on them.

Currently working on?

Large day-bed cushions made out of vintage carpets for lounging on indoors and outdoors.

Future of Balthazaar?

I'd like to have more of an international clientele. Once I get bigger overseas I want to grow my team and create more skilled jobs here. - bubblegumclub.co.za

This article was originally published in the Times.

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