Stephanie Bentum's family is rooted in the history of South Africa’s wool industry. It therefore followed naturally that her flair, creativity and love of functional, sculptural and organic design should find an outlet in this ancient fibre, in particular, the age-old technique of felting that proved to be her wool application of choice since 2009. The malleable nature of wool proved to be the perfect vehicle for her knack for reinvention.  She is constantly exploring felt and its endless possibilities, manipulating this versatile fibre into fabric. More “traditional” is her hand-rolled yarn, which is used to make knitted handbags and homeware products that playfully re-interpret functionality coupled with pleasing-to-the-senses forms, colours and textures.

The handmade nature of her designs reflects a commitment to an environmentally sustainable lifestyle, coupled with her desire to develop textiles based on innovation and experimentation in design. Merino sheep are raised locally in South Africa and she encourages wool sourced from farmers following animal friendly practices. Clean and combed wool, which forms the basis for all her textiles, for its felting abilities, has become scarce and challenging to consistently find. This has propelled her into finding greasy wool and taking on the labour intensive washing and carding fibre blends which may include hemp, silk and mohair required for distinct textiles. The colour palette ranges from the understated natural colour of wool to a large range of earthy shades and exuberant colours using environmentally safe industrial dyes yet continues collecting and experimenting with fast dyes made from plant materials collected from her direct surroundings.

​Working from her studio at the foot of the Cape Fold Mountains in Somerset West, South Africa, there have been many skills training opportunities, including graduate fashion design students, notably, since 2016, the talented Lukhanyo Mdingi, nominated for the illustrious 2021 LVHM Prize and awarded joint winner of the Karl Lagerfeld Prize, allowing Stephanie to pursue textile developments for his winning ranges.

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As a textile designer and maker Stephanie’s goal is to continue exploring and creating contemporary textiles for the fashion,interior and film industries.