Signature style

TheUrbanative Mpho Vackier

STARTUP COSTS: ‘TheUrbanative started with one staff member – I did the design, marketing, sales and the photography,’ says Mpho. ‘I also outsourced the production.’

TURNOVER: ‘We are now in a position to employ a few staff members: two professionals and two highly skilled artisans, as well as two temps. We also have a workshop on our property.’

Process engineer turned furniture designer Mpho Vackier is the founder of TheUrbanative, a contemporary furniture and product design company. Her goal? To share African traditions and stories through her craft.

You worked in the mining industry for many years – how did you get into furniture design?

I always wanted to study design but I didn’t have the money. I got a bursary to study engineering, so I did that instead. After studying extraction metallurgy, I started out as a process engineer in the mining industry. I was a pyrometallurgist for about 10 years and worked in a