BY NELIWE NGUBANE
MBABANE – What some may dismiss as waste becomes wearable art in the hands of Gcinekile Dladla, founder and owner of Adorable Accessories, a jewellery business turning zippers, buttons, denim and fabric offcuts into fashionable, handcrafted pieces.
Dladla showcased her work during the IP Runway: The Business of Fashion, Furniture & Art at the Royal Villas last Thursday, highlighting how creativity and sustainability can work together to give discarded materials a new purpose.
Founded in 2015, Adorable Accessories was born from Dladla’s childhood love for handicrafts and her desire to create jewellery that matched her outfits. Her creative journey was influenced by her late mother, whom she assisted in making fascinators, while her father’s electrical appliance business exposed her to entrepreneurship and the importance of customer service.
What began as a hobby making bracelets and earrings soon attracted attention from friends and family, who requested customised pieces. This encouraged Dladla to turn her creativity into a part-time business.
Today, Adorable Accessories produces earrings, pendants, necklaces, bracelets, bangles and other custom-made pieces. Its designs are handcrafted from materials that might otherwise be discarded, including zippers, buttons, recycled denim, fabric offcuts and beads.
Dladla said sustainability is at the heart of her work, guided by the principles of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover.
“Every piece we create tells a story of sustainability and style,” she said.
The entrepreneur has also taken her creations beyond Eswatini. Through assistance from the Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority (EIPA), Adorable Accessories gained exposure to markets in Taiwan and Dubai in 2021. Although the COVID-19 pandemic affected the process, Dladla managed to send her products to Taiwan, where she discovered an appreciation for jewellery and an opportunity to reach new customers.
Her experience taught her that sustainable fashion can cross borders when creativity is combined with quality and adaptability.
Dladla hopes to grow Adorable Accessories into a recognised sustainable fashion brand while inspiring consumers, young people and fellow creatives to rethink waste.
For her, discarded materials are not the end of a product’s journey, but the beginning of a new story.
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