Every magazine has to decide what it believes before it decides what it covers. ESONILE believes that Africa is not a trend, a palette or a mood board. It is a source — of materials, of skill, of ideas — and too often the source is where the story ends.
I have worked in fashion since 2012. In that time I have watched the world fall in love with African prints, African silhouettes, African faces on runways. What I have seen less of is African ownership of the value those things create. That gap is why this magazine exists.
So for our first issue we went back to the beginning: to the raw material. South Africa grows more than half of the world’s mohair, one of the most luxurious fibres on earth. Most of us have never touched it, never worn it, and never been told it comes from the Karoo. Our cover story follows that fibre out of the country — and asks why so little of its value comes back.
You’ll notice the theme runs through every section. Thread shows you how to wear it. Soil goes to the farms. Space brings it into the home. Business maps where the money goes. That’s how ESONILE will work: one idea, examined from every room in the house.
We are new, independent and small. We are also serious. Read us, argue with us, write for us.
Welcome to ESONILE.
Ndumi Mahlangu, Founder & Editor