Produced in independent women-owned cooperatives that aim at empowering women living in the townships of Cape Town, all our bags are made from locally sourced materials: fair-trade natural fabrics, jute and cotton, or recycled PET from plastic bottles.
We have a production capacity of 25 000 bags per month and ship throughout the world.
Our bags are:
– Sustainable: fair-trade and eco-friendly
– Supporting women’s economic empowerment
– Offering an affordable, efficient solution
Environmentally-friendly Fabrics
The environmentally-friendly fabrics we use are natural (jute and cotton) or made of recycled plastic bottles (PET). The cotton is sourced from Southern Africa (Zimbabwe & Madagascar) in support of WWF-SA conservation programs, which the recycled PET fabric is a 100% locally made product. The bottles are collected from rubbish dumps, taken to PET Recycling Company and then processed into a fibre.
Women Empowerment
We have been working with the women from the townships in Cape Town since 1997. Our not-for-profit organization Afrique du Sud, Bidonvilles (ASB) provides the women with training to establish and run independent sewing co-operatives within their communities. Each co-op receives intensive sewing, accounting and business courses and, after six months, becomes an autonomous entity legally registered.
Fair Trade Matters
We monitor the women’s social development through the poverty stoplight monitoring system. All products are hand-made by women-run co-ops, which means that every purchase of a Township® bag directly translates into work for township women. Township Bags was the first South African fashion brand to become a member of the World Fair Trade Organization.
Long-term Sustainable Impact
Today, we have 7 co-ops in the Cape Town area – each with 7 to 10 members working in a professional and safe environment, close to their families. The co-op acts as a role model in their community by establishing permanent economic activity.
Township Bags was the first South African fashion brand to become a member of the World Fair Trade Organization.
Our cotton is sourced from Southern Africa (Zimbabwe & Madagascar) in support of WWF-SA conservation programs.
Please view our sustainable practices.
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