Meet The Makers
Three collections. One workshop. A small team creating pieces for dogs, homes, and people.
Chilli Bush Republic is the home of WoodWings Creations, Mambu Design and SwaggaPets.
At first glance, they seem like very different things: hand-carved wooden birds, handcrafted jewellery, and dog collars, leashes and harnesses. But all three grew from the same workshop, the same family, and the same belief that things made by hand still matter.
Over the years we've made and sold our work through markets, galleries, retail stores, trade shows and, more recently, online. We've grown, scaled back, reinvented ourselves more than once, and learned that the best things are rarely built in a straight line.
This is the story of how a workshop in South Africa became home to three very different brands.
Meet Dominic
Artist, designer, maker, and the hands behind every WoodWings bird.
From sculpture and furniture to jewellery and carving, creativity has always been at the heart of Dominic's work. Today, each WoodWings bird is shaped, carved, and balanced by hand in the workshop.
Meet Françoise
Designer, photographer, storyteller, and maker.
Over the years, Françoise has designed jewellery, clothing, and dog accessories, photographed products, and helped shape the stories behind the collections. Today, she brings together the many moving parts that make up Chili Bush Republic.
Where it all began
Long before Chilli Bush Republic existed, Françoise was making rocking horses by hand.
At twenty-three, she wandered through an organic market and saw a wooden bird unlike anything she had seen before. It had been carved by a young artist named Dominic. She couldn't afford it immediately, but she saved until she could.
A few weeks later, while exhibiting her rocking horses at a craft market, she met the man who had carved that bird.
That meeting changed everything.
Neither of them knew it at the time, but it would become the beginning of a shared life built around creativity, craftsmanship and making things by hand.
The early years
One of the rocking horses Françoise made in her early twenties.
Building Mambu Design
The workshop had been working with ostrich eggshell for a few years before Mambu Design took shape.
What began as decorative pieces eventually led to a collection of Christmas ornaments. Customers loved them, but many wanted to wear them rather than hang them on a tree. Gradually the ornaments became jewellery, and the jewellery became a business.
Over the years Mambu Design grew into a thriving workshop producing jewellery, homeware and gifts. At its largest, more than twenty people worked in the workshop.
The work travelled further than they ever imagined. Collections were exhibited at international trade shows in Paris, Milan, Frankfurt and New York. For nearly two decades, German distributors introduced Mambu pieces to customers across Europe. Closer to home, the business operated from markets, galleries and retail spaces, including the Watershed in Cape Town where we still have a store.
It was an exciting chapter, but at its heart it remained a workshop filled with people making things by hand.
Working with Eggshell
Ostrich eggs from the early years. What began as a fascination with this remarkable material would eventually lead to Mambu Design.
The Hands Behind The Work
Behind every collection are skilled hands and years of experience.
Some members of our workshop team have been with us for more than thirty years, helping to shape, paint, stitch, assemble, and finish the pieces that leave our workshop. While the collections have evolved over the years, the commitment to craftsmanship has remained the same.
THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE IT POSSIBLE
No workshop is built by just two people.
Mike has painted WoodWings birds for more than thirty years, bringing each carving to life with extraordinary patience and care. Dennis has worked alongside our family for more than two decades, first helping create Mambu Design jewellery components and now crafting many of the leather details that define SwaggaPets. Selina has been part of the workshop family for almost twenty years, working closely on Mambu Design and always stepping in wherever she's needed. Today, she is also learning the leatherwork that will become part of SwaggaPets' next chapter.
They represent just a few of the people who have helped shape our workshop over the years. Their hands—and the hands of many others—are part of every piece that leaves our studio.
REINVENTION
Like many small businesses, we were deeply affected by the Covid years. The workshop became smaller, plans changed, and we had to rethink almost everything. It was a difficult chapter, but it reminded us why we began in the first place: to make thoughtful things by hand, and to share them with people who value craftsmanship.
THE RETURN OF WOODWINGS
During those years, Dominic returned to bird carving after a long break, while Françoise opened an Etsy shop from home. Neither of us knew what to expect. One bird led to another, and before long WoodWings creations were finding homes with collectors around the world. Today, every bird is still carved, balanced and finished by hand in our South African workshop.
THE BIRTH OF SWAGGAPETS
SwaggaPets began with Musi, our little dachshund.
She needed a jacket, and Françoise couldn't find one that felt beautifully made, so she designed one herself. Friends soon wanted jackets for their own dogs, followed by collars, leads, harnesses and accessories. What began as something made for one much-loved dog gradually grew into a collection for dogs and the people who love them.
CHILLI BUSH REPUBLIC TODAY
Today, Chilli Bush Republic brings together WoodWings Creations, Mambu Design and SwaggaPets under one workshop roof.
They may look like three different brands, but they all grew from the same belief: that beautiful things are worth making slowly, honestly and by hand.
We still work as we always have—one piece at a time, with a small team of skilled makers and a commitment to craftsmanship that has never changed.
Make things well.
Make them honestly.
Make them by hand.
Make them to become part of someone's story.
That's Chilli Bush Republic.
