Dive into vibrant Cape Town with Katherine Mary-Pichulik
Introducing Deep Dive, our latest content series where we ask creative women about their areas of expertise in the destinations that they know best. Come along for the ride as we dive deep into the world’s most exciting destinations through music, food, fashion, design, and more.
This Deep Dive is part of a collaborative series with White Label Project, a digital concept store and community platform for the most exciting female-led impact brands in fashion and design from around the globe. In this edition, we meet the founder of Pichulik, a partner brand of White Label Project.
Katherine is the Founder and Creative Director of Pichulik, an ethical jewellery and accessories atelier based in Cape Town, South Africa. Rooted in Africa, and inspired by ancient traditions and cultures around the world, PICHULIK seeks to impart sacred feminine wisdom through its unique and intentional designs. We sat down with Katherine to hear more about her work, how African women have moulded and inspired her, and what makes South Africa’s creative landscape so exciting.
Tell us about your journey with Pichulik.
I didn’t see this journey in my cards. I originally studied fine arts and then trained as a pastry chef in London however soon realised that it wasn’t for me. When I returned to South Africa, I was working in a market during the day and then at night, I was making these necklaces out of rope, wrapping and embellishing them as a hobby. People soon started trying to buy these pieces from me which is when I realised there might be something there. Friends started to help me make more and shoot some images; from there I was invited to accessorize the Mercedez Benz Fashion Week which led to shops wanting orders. My girlfriends would come over to help me package up the wholesale orders. Now we have our own space as a 20-woman team that exports to 16 countries, but it all started at a kitchen table.
Female empowerment is very central to what you do. Can we hear some more about that?
I come from a single-woman household and my memory of my mother is as this very strong powerful woman who was adorned in costume jewelry. She had an incredible network of aunts and friends who raised us all as a community. So in my mind, jewelry was always connected with these powerful women, and with community, female connections, and ancestry. These jewelry pieces have become the weaving materials that connect all of these things. Our team is a hub of diverse women, many of them single parents, so we have cultivated that same community that I grew up with as a kid.
Africa is also core to your brand as well. How has South Africa inspired what you do?
My generation was the first generation of South Africans to live in a multiracial environment. It was previously very segregated under apartheid, and we have to speak about that context when speaking about South Africa. We have to navigate the complexity of being a post-colonial country and that’s been a formative part of my upbringing, having multi-generational complex conversations. That’s why it’s so important that our team is pan-African. People have a monolithic idea of what Africa looks like and assume a continent has a singular identity. Pichulik is more than just being inspired by African aesthetics. We choose to procure and handcraft and full-time employ locally, we translate all of our communications into Xhosa so that our team have full agency in their mother tongue. Empowerment is less about #girlboss and more about giving people agency, whether it’s financial or being able to express yourself in your primary tongue. These are very considered decisions, that root and invest PICHULIK in our birthplace South Africa.
What does the creative landscape currently look like in Cape Town?
There’s a huge startup culture here with lots of markets and amazing hubs where you have makers all working in different studios. What’s exciting is that there’s a great sense of community and collaboration because our path isn’t yet planned for us. When you think of Paris for example, you know there is a huge heritage of luxury. But in South Africa, the route hasn’t been laid out for what luxury looks like so we’re making it now. We are self-defining, reinventing and articulating what the landscape of African luxury looks like. It’s also interesting that only relatively recently major brands have started talking about sustainability and circular economies but this is just what we have done here, under necessity- we have had to be resourceful.
Where should we go in Cape Town to experience the city’s ingenuity?
Galleries Blank Projects, Michael Stevenson, and Norval especially when they have solos with contemporary African Artists like Cinga Samson
Labia Theatre (old heritage cinema) for art-house and documentary
Clarks Bookshop and Booklounge both have incredible collectable art books
Do you have any other favourite spots that you recommend for anyone visiting Cape Town?
I would say stay near Tamboerskloof or Bo-Kaap so you can walk all the cute shops and restaurants, and experience the Cape Malay heritage in Bo Kaap. It’s very central and close to one of the cultural arteries of the city centre Bree Street. I also recommend:
Shop: Merchants on Long for both contemporary African design and fashion
Eat: Arthur’s Mini Super in Seapoint is amazing for breakfast or an Apertivo after a promenade stroll
Do: You must do a mountain walk either Lions Head / Table Mountain
Tap the rest of Katherine’s recs in the ECT Clubhouse, including where she suggests you head for dinner, a fashion concept store housing the best of South African design, the best places for drinks, and activity ideas to experience the surrounding nature.
