Startup Story
Rejane Gwynne and partner Krissie Gwynne are co-founders of OYOO Style in South Africa, an ethical fashion and homeware range made from African textiles. The business supports skills development for local seamstresses, and also has a focus on sustainability with its no waste approach to production. The entrepreneurial pair met in the UK and after 16 years abroad they returned to South Africa to be closer to family and to explore the beautiful African continent. OYOO Style was created in 2021 and has 3 employees.
LoA spoke to founders Rejane & Krissie Gwynne about their mission and vision for the business, and their passion for promoting slow fashion and fair wages.
What does your company do?
OYOO Style is an ethical fashion brand that makes clothing and homeware from African textiles.
What inspired you to start your company?
OYOO Style was born out of a love for African textiles and the need to design clothing that stood out from the mainstream shops. We wanted to break the mould and design a bright, fun fashion and homeware range that appeals to everyone, and brings a smile to people’s faces.
“OYOO Style was born out of a love for African textiles and the need to design clothing that stood out from the mainstream shops.”
“We believe slow fashion and fairer wages has to be the future, and by educating people to avoid supporting the mass production sweatshops that plague the fashion industry around the world, together we can make a difference.”
Why should anyone use your service or product?
How we are ethical:
Support local skill – we invest in training seamstresses to empower them
Good wages – we pay our seamstresses fair wages
No waste – we use all our off-cuts of material to create our multi-coloured clothing and accessories
Our Promise:
Quality – we only source quality material that will last, and everything is made with love and attention to detail
Locally sourced – we keep it local and only source material within the African continent
Slow fashion – all our items are handmade to order
By supporting us, you are helping to create work opportunities within South Africa, improve the environment as we are about zero waste and we strive to source our textiles, and items from local and ethical suppliers only.
We believe slow fashion and fairer wages has to be the future, and by educating people to avoid supporting the mass production sweatshops that plague the fashion industry around the world, together we can make a difference.
Tell us a little about your team:
Wife duo Rejane and Krissie are the force behind OYOO Style and in charge of the day-to-day operations, marketing and tech. We work with self-employed, highly skilled local seamstresses.
“We are planning on getting more seamstresses on board and will be focusing our efforts on wholesale orders and exporting overseas.”
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
We have always been interested in making clothes that we would like to wear, not which was available in the shops so when we moved back to SA we looked into fabric and came across shweshwe which we both fell in love with. We teamed up with a local seamstress and started creating our own clothing range, firstly for ourselves to wear but soon decided that we should start a business and sell our clothing. Furthermore we are both self-employed and run our own graphic and website design company called OYOO Design. So we could design our own website, logo and all marketing material which saved us a lot of money and comes in very handy in running an online ecommerce business.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
We are planning on getting more seamstresses on board and will be focusing our efforts on wholesale orders and exporting overseas. We are planning on creating different clothing lines all made from African textiles, with shweshwe being the first one.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
Being in charge of running the business and pushing it to succeed.
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
Find out what you are passionate about and then focus on making that your career. Believe in yourself and your abilities.
Find out more:
Email: rejane@oyoostyle.co.za
Website: http://www.oyoostyle.co.za
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/oyoostyle/
Why LoA loves it….
At Lionesses of Africa we are big fans of women entrepreneurs who are building sustainable fashion brands and providing opportunities for artisans such as seamstresses to earn fair wages. Rejane Gwynne and partner Krissie Gwynne, co-founders of OYOO Style, are doing just that with their business. Their ethical approach to business means they are building a brand with an emphasis on sustainable production, and a commitment to uplifting artisan seamstresses through training and fair wages. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa