Luxury leather bags from Lesotho

DW (English)

Lesotho's leather processing fell into oblivion from the 1980s onwards. Now a dynamic duo is working to revive it and bring Lesotho back onto the world stage with a range of luxurious leather bags!

Transcript

00:00As Basotho increasingly reclaim their cultural heritage,

00:04how is this being expressed through increased employment opportunities and economic gains?

00:10We felt that the manufacturing industry, at least in the last few decades,

00:16has been fully owned by the foreign investors and we want to change the story.

00:22In the 1980s, artesian leather crafters in Basotho had a reputation

00:27for producing high-quality leather and sheepskin products that were exported worldwide.

00:33But increasing political turmoil through the 80s meant many expat-managed cooperatives,

00:38including Maluti Leather, shut down.

00:40With an established textile industry producing clothing for export,

00:44wouldn't this have been an easier option than leather?

00:47Of all the different aspects in the manufacturing industry,

00:53we picked leather for a number of reasons.

00:56One of the reasons being that starting a leather manufacturing facility,

01:03you can do it with a lesser capital as most of the machinery

01:07can do most of the work in the production process.

01:10Not only that, but having been exposed to a number of leather manufacturers,

01:16we had also seen the processes of manufacturing and we felt

01:19it's an easier entry into the manufacturing sector.

01:22As Masupa Moshoeshoe and Lebo Anamadzimane started their trial and error in production,

01:27they were simultaneously trying to re-establish those ancient supply and export chains,

01:33while slowly building a reputation for their quality product range.

01:38But their biggest challenge was not that easy to overcome.

01:41How did they manage?

01:43The journey has not been easy and some of the challenges that we have had to face

01:47and overcome has been market access.

01:50And I wouldn't say we've overcome it, but we have made some strides in it.

01:54So we had to work on our brand, Zeri Leather, a lot, use social media platforms,

02:00use boutique stores in Lesotho and outside, attend international trade fairs,

02:06just to find a way into penetrating our markets,

02:09be it the local market, the regional and even beyond.

02:14Lebo Ani and Masupa met at L'Héritage du Polytechnique in Lesotho

02:18and both went on to study in Durban, South Africa.

02:21Despite their degrees in surveying and electrical engineering,

02:24they both wanted to work in business, so a partnership made sense.

02:28But how did two very technical people manage to develop such a creative brand?

02:34With engineering background for myself and my business partner in quantity surveying,

02:39those fields, they are more towards creating stuff and building stuff.

02:45So moving to leather was more passion driven,

02:48but it was also still aligned to the fact that we love seeing things being done from scratch

02:54and coming up with something that people can marvel at.

02:57Leather is durable, and therefore leather goods can increase profitability.

03:02The customer receives a much higher quality product

03:05than that of local or regional competitors.

03:08Is this why Zeri Leather has been able to grow from humble beginnings

03:12to a new factory with a production capacity of 6,500 units per month?

03:18In our company, we have come up with a culture that we pay attention to detail.

03:24And as and when new members come, this is something that we've always instilled in them.

03:29That any product that leaves our floor, any product that leaves our facility,

03:34it's a statement that we're making out there.

03:36And in a way, in a way of protecting our brand,

03:41we cannot afford to take anything out of our facility that does not represent us.

03:46And we are grateful that we have had very few products in-house

03:49that we have had not to take them to the market.

03:52So our team has done a good job in terms of keeping the right quality of our products.

03:58While establishing Zeri Leather,

04:00they have constantly supported community-led initiatives

04:03while working with women and youth.

04:05They recently employed four people from a new crime prevention initiative.

04:10Ever since I've started working here, I have learned a lot.

04:14I have learned a lot.

04:15And I've managed to even be, to get an opportunity to be financially empowered.

04:21As a company, we have also realized the need for social responsibility.

04:26And we feel that you don't have to be so big to start engaging in such matters.

04:33And we've taken that responsibility upon ourselves.

04:36Personally, I have even managed to be a more patient person than I was.

04:41I get to interact with people, you know, communication,

04:47to try to see things from the same perspective.

04:50Masupa Moshoeshoe and Lebo Anamatsimani set out to create a pan-African brand,

04:55incorporating design and elements from across the continent.

05:00As Zeri Leather has exhibited all across the world,

05:03they are slowly carving a growing number of brand loyalists

05:07and bringing the Soto to the world, one bag at a time.

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