The Fabric of a Place: Frances v.H Mohair
In the semi-arid plains of South Africa’s Karoo, where mountain ranges frame a landscape textured with fine flora and crisp light, Frances v.H Mohair creates textiles that are inseparable from their origins. Founded by Frances van Hasselt, who grew up on a family Angora goat farm, the studio honours mohair’s deep African heritage and its place in the land’s delicate ecosystem. Every piece is made by hand, from washing and spinning to weaving and finishing, carried out by a collective of skilled women artisans.
Their philosophy is simple yet radical: making from the land up. Rainfall, plant life, and the goats themselves form the first chapters of each rug. Raw, uncarded locks are hand-washed, spun, and dyed, their natural lustre absorbing colour with brilliance. The result is a textile that carries the imprint of its environment—raw, tender, and enduring.
Frances v.H Mohair’s newly released short film, The Fabric of a Place, captures this process with cinematic intimacy in a meditation on fibre, landscape, and community. At its heart lies a call for the fashion and textile industries to learn from nature rather than demand that nature mould itself to fleeting trends.
Featured in Selvedge Issue 126, Deco, Frances v.H Mohair’s Botterblom collection translates the Karoo’s daily rhythms into woven form. Made in collaboration with twelve women at the studio, the pieces capture the colour and texture of community life—doorways framed by blossoms, the pulse of shared laughter, the quiet dignity of work. Each textile is less an object than a fragment of lived experience, a record stitched in mohair.
Their new film, The Fabric of a Place, extends this vision, asking us to look again at where cloth begins—not as fashion, but as rainfall, land, and labour. It is a reminder that textiles are not only things we use, but stories we inherit and carry forward.
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Further Information:
Read more about Frances V. Mohair:
UP MY STREET: Botterblom Straat – A collection by Frances v.H Mohair Studio.
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Image Credits:
Lead: Frances van Hasselt hanging pieces from the Botterblom Straat collection, 2024. Photo: Luke Houba
Video: Courtesy of Frances v.H Mohair