Khokho

High quality leather and woven goods handmade in Swaziland. Khokho combines leather workmanship with traditional Swazi weaving techniques to create contemporary and unique silhouettes. Led by design duo Sapna Shah & Philippa Thorne and handcraft expert Zinhle Vilakati. Our mission is to preserve — and elevate — the craft with a modern aesthetic while creating income-generating opportunities for its artisans, who receive a percentage of every sale.

In Swaziland, women — and especially grandmothers — are the head of the household, and the backbone of their families and communities. By empowering them, we impact many.
Khokho means great-grandmother in Siswati.

The natural world informs more than just our design direction. We use sustainably harvested local grasses and reeds, including lutindzi grass found high in the mountains of Swaziland. Traditionally used in thatch-house construction, the fibres are durable and naturally water resistant, and are colored with eco-certified dyes before being placed in the sun to dry.

With no tanneries in Swaziland, we source our leather from one of the oldest family-owned tanneries in South Africa. The factory, which dates back to 1878, is renowned for its fine vegetable tanning using wattle-bark extracts. All waste by-products are recycled to create a well-balanced and eco-friendly environment.

The Khokho leather workshop is where dedicated leather crafters — trained by Carlo Bisceglia, an Italian master craftsman and patternmaker with over 40 years of handbag experience in the fashion industry — transform the woven panels into fully lined handbags. Attention to detail, functionality and durability are key.