In Wellington, the South African Leather Academy (SALA) team is bringing back the 18th-century craft quality in leather manufacturing. And its work has been noticed, with the announcement recently that SALA is an AHi (Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut) Small Business of the Year finalist.
The SA Leather Academy was established in Vanrhynsdorp with Frik van Jaarsveld at its helm, and it has since moved to The Old Tannery in Wellington.
The mission of the academy is to promote the manufacture of classic hand-crafted leather products in Southern Africa. Since 2007 it has trained 570 new individual crafters and six groups of 10 crafters each, bringing the total trained to 630 people. Of these trained, more than 22 became full-time leather product manufacturers. Overseas trainees included people from Dubai, Belgium, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Russia, United States, the UK, Nigeria and the Netherlands.
The academy, owing to its service to the craft industry, received recognition from the then Cape Craft and Design Institute when they were included in the Ten-year Memorial Publication of Top Crafters in the Western Cape and won the 2012 award for Contribution of Creative Industries from the Western Cape Arts, Culture, Language, Heritage, Museums, Geographical Names and Archives Services.
SALA also published South Africa’s first and only Manual on Leather Craft in South Africa and the only SOP Manual on the Maintenance and renovation of Historical Leather Artefacts in Museums and Collections.
For years it has followed a development programme for the manufacturing of leather handcraft tools as well as fittings and fasteners to make crafters more financially independent.
To ensure consistent quality SALA has started recycling vehicle valves, rockers and scrap steel to make these tools.
SALA has, through a process of design development, changed the face of leather crafting, moving from strictly vegetable-tanned leather to using soft leathers in hand designs. This allowed it to develop its Ten Day Training course, in which new crafters learn to use virtually any type of leather.
Champion of the academy the 72-year-old Frik van Jaarsveld believes there is a tendency towards retro products, to go back to classic genuine leather-designed products, and he has dedicated his life to ensuring top-quality leather products are made, as opposed to bad-quality imports.
This is now being offered as a 10-day experiential course for individuals at the training venue at the SALA Academy in Wellington, or alternatively at the venue of choice of the learner group, ensuring each student learns all the techniques by repetition, becoming familiar with the tools of the trade, workflow, product pattern design and quality finishing.
To ensure continuity after the course is over, each participant receives a basic tool set and manufactures a range of marketable products such as a hand-stitched belt, handbag, briefcase-cum-laptop case or travel bag.
