African luxury redefined at Kat Van Duinen

In her breathtakingly striking new store at the luxurious Silo Hotel, Kat Van Duinen is redefining luxury in South Africa, one stitch at a time. Born in Poland, Kat relocated to Cape Town in a pursuit of infinite elegance.  

This is evident in her thoroughly detailed ostrich leather handbags. “We’re a strong local brand which enjoys a high level of traction with tourists, and we are looking to extend our presence in Cape Town, Johannesburg and South Africa in general. Our brand’s story is unique: exquisite, luxury, genuine exotic-leather women’s accessories proudly handcrafted in South Africa. Every piece evokes the creative spirit of Africa, and offers sleek, sophisticated pieces perfectly suited to the discerning, elegant sartorialist,” says Kat.

This is little wonder that fashion forward celebrities such as Solange Knowles and Diane Keaton have been spotted with a Kat Van Duinen piece. “It’s great brand exposure having well known personalities aligned with an item we’ve created, especially in the world of social media,” says Kat.

Designer, Kat Van Duinen

With her distinct understanding of the importance of fashion and luxury, Kat is very optimistic about her sleek new store at the Silo Hotel. “When we heard about the Silo Hotel space, it was a no brainer that this is the perfect location for our clientele. The Silo Hotel is the epitome of luxury and our brand resembles the same sentiments,” says Kat.

Africa being viewed as the next financial frontier; the luxury goods sector in the continent is one of the markets to watch. When asked about the state of African luxury and its future Kat replied: “As much as we’ve still got a long way to go, we’re also being recognised as great key players in the world of luxury goods. We have extremely talented individuals in this continent. It’s also important to educate our consumers in the continent about African luxury goods.”

With mass production and countries such as China and Bangladesh dominating the manufacturing industry with cheap labour, it increasingly makes it challenging for certain brands to compete. “It’s extremely sad when people have to lose jobs due to cheap imports from China. And our government needs to take action in this phenomenon,” says Kat.

What’s next for Kat Van Duinen? “You will have to watch this space. I’ll continue collaborating with people close to such as my husband Kelly John Gough who’s an exceptional artist,” says Kat.