World goes Gaga over SA ostrich plumes at the Olympics

South Africa has many enthralling exports. The wild varieties of wines in the Cape. The era-defining moves from amapiano beats and even the streets of Benoni that birthed our first Oscar-winning actress. But when it comes to fashion, it would seem the arid lands of the semi-desserts of Oudtshoorn in the Karoo are tickling the fancies of international stages and runways.

Although a controversial evening for sports fans, the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games was certainly a memorable one. Especially for the performance led by Applause singer, Lady Gaga, who dazzled viewers with a burlesque ode to Mon Truc en Plumes (My Thing With Feathers). The performance was made popular by French icon Zizi Jeanmarie and featured dozens of feathered pom poms, fans and headpieces that were sourced from South Africa.

As the mecca for all things ostrich feather and leather, Cape Karoo International’s (CKI) team was blown away by the news that their plumes were part of the Grammy and Emmy-winning star’s performance. “We couldn't believe it. We saw them go from the boat to the big screen. And it was not just the star of the show, but it was also worn by the amazing dancers on the stage,” said CKI MD Francois de Wet.

For De Wet, this puts a spotlight on their business, which promotes the success of local ostrich farmers. He explains that this is all possible due to the unique flocks found within South African that can produce enough eggs to get feathers that meet their market demand.

CKI focuses on multiple levels of transparency, as seen with their safety and traceability approach, where all ostriches can be located back to a specific farm. They also live by the credo of ensuring the ostriches have a healthy welfare and cruelty-free environment. Feathers are produced for major fashion houses such as Hermes, Prada and Gucci.

When it came to getting Lady Gaga and her dancers feathered up, it was plumes travelling from Chanel’s fashion buyers to Dior’s crafty seamstresses. The quality of feathers falls on the lap of CKI’s Feather Division, which is headed by Peter Liebenberg. He says this starts with the mass amount of products they produce. “We look at the density of the fluff and also the width of the fibres. We also look at the defects of the feathers because the top brands only want the best of the best,” he says.

Liebenberg says poor quality products are upcycled and made into new products that are sold locally. This also includes carnivals such as Madi Gras.

Liebenberg and De Wet say they are top sources for several high-end brands that solidified South Africa as the go-to destination for ostrich feathers. “We’ve got a unique product, where we have the perfect climate that is needed,” says Liebenberg, noting South Africans rarely know when products brought outside of the country are coming from feathers sourced from CKI.

“We follow the right processing techniques and standards with reliable labour with people who have a passion for the product. We've had South Africans that are buying feather boas from Australia that initially came for us, flying from Outsdhoorn to Brisbane.”