African Sketchbook | Fine Art Fabrics
Product Design in Cape Town

In Cape Town there is a place where fabric is considered the focal point of décor and where stories are revealed with each new fabric design and production.

We are a fabric house where design is once again considered a fine art, where fabric design starts with a sketchbook and a pencil. And it ends with a fabric that is painted by hand, yielding a fabric so rich, so real, so full of soul. Each fabric is designed with its intended use centre stage. Each fabric is designed with the color palette at its foundation and each fabric tells a story. In 2003 a fabric designer and a consumer marketer came together and recognised the enduring value of custom design created by hand. Since then Di, Partner, Creative Director and emerging world-class textile designer, has developed a team of highly skilled painters who do everything by hand. But what sets us apart is not simply our hand work, but instead our entire approach to fabric design. Each fabric design job starts with two things: a story and a colour palette, two building blocks of great design. The painters have no formal art training, only a desire to work and an ability to paint a swirl upon arrival. With those qualifications unskilled labor from the surrounding townships rapidly became valued artists. Di Christian, Partner and Creative Director, has been painting fabrics for over twenty years. Her amazing talents lie not only in her ability to conceive and create designs, but also in her ability to translate intricate designs into tools from which our workshop-trained artists can paint. In 2002, Anne Thistleton added her business experience to Di’s artistic experience to form African Sketchbook Fine Art Fabrics.