The Re-create journey – by Andrea Conrad

In October 2019 the owner of Incanda Furniture, Gerhard van Deventer, approached me to enquire whether I am keen to work for his company. At that time, I had just sold our business we have run for 15 years, namely a very remote guest farm in the Cederberg. I have also sold our home and moved to Cape Town with my 2 children. Gerhard and his family had been regular guests on our farm, and we got to know each other around the braai and on many hikes we shared.

Up to that day I had no background in retail or manufacturing, let alone leather works. But I had a history of running a guest farm with an entrepreneurial approach. I had learned to create something out of nothing, and to make it beautiful too. Gerhard thought these qualities made me the perfect person to run his new venture at Incanda, namely to use the leather off-cuts from the factory to create something useful and beautiful.

During the leather furniture manufacturing process only parts of the leather skins are being used. As a result, many pieces stay behind as off-cuts, which have been regarded as waste in the past. The same applies to wood, steel, and fabric off-cuts. In line with Incanda’s ongoing path to sustainability and being environmentally conscious, Gerhard had the brainwave to use these off-cuts to produce smaller products. I loved this idea and was on board immediately! And that’s how our journey began…

The Incanda Re-Create department gathers all leather off-cuts from the factory, then sorts them according to colour and texture, and lastly cuts them into different panels. We have mastered the art of “nesting” by now, ensuring that very little off-cuts stay behind after we have cut our panels. And the last little pieces that do stay behind are used to fill our Door stoppers to give them the needed weight!

With detailed attention the cut panels are then packed into piles that will eventually be used to make up bags or other products. This is a crucial and difficult step in our production as we need to make sure that the panels are not only of the same colour, but also of shade and texture – not an easy job when working with off-cuts. Once we have matched the panels and have a complete pile, the eventual product is ready to be stitched and finished off.

We deliver client orders nationwide. We also stock our complete range of Re-Create products in all the Incanda Furniture showrooms and at an increasing number of retailers.

When we launched our Incanda Re-Create business not even 3 years ago, we never imagined how well it will be perceived and how fast it will grow. Starting with a team of 3 people, we grew to a core team of 15, with occasional extras. Our team is diverse in culture and represents old and young. Although I often work from home, I love the days in the factory…feeling the enthusiasm and pride amongst the team when they learn new designs, hear about new orders and when we can share the wonderful client feedback we receive. We are all very excited about the future of Incanda Re-Create, and to experience where our journey will take us. Every day we are grateful to be part of this special initiative where we transform, what would have been waste, into useful and inspiring products.