In 1998, Master Weaver Stuart Holding came into possession of two restored antique looms. He used these looms to weave limited runs of beautiful homeware textiles from what he called his ‘working weaving museum’ – an old barn where passersby could watch him work. He sold the resulting small textiles in his wife, Janet’s, shop. Soon demand outstripped supply and Mungo expanded production to a mill housed in an old dairy building a few kilometres away. Years later, things have changed; we have left the cows behind, moved to our very own mill and opened 4 stores in South Africa. Our one-man team has grown to a family of over 100.
In 2017 the Mungo team fulfilled a long cherished dream; building our own mill on the grounds of Old Nick Village, near Stuart’s original barn, and next door to our flagship store. The Mungo Mill is a testament to our philosophy of transparency in the production process, with the entire mill open to the public.
Pursuant to our sustainability objectives, in 2020 we underwent an audit for Global Organic Textile Standard GOTS certification. We are now South Africa’s first GOTS-certified textile weaving mill.