The Caversham Textiles story starts in 1985 with the establishment of The Caversham Press, the first private collaborative printmaking studio in South Africa and the brainchild of Malcom Christian a Master Printmaker.
Malcolm who had been lecturing Fine Art at WITS saw a need for a studio that would allow artists to create their own work and have it produced in collaboration with him. When visiting friends in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands he walked past an old Methodist chapel and saw in this the possibility of making his vision a reality. Purchase completed, he and Ros and the family moved down to the beautiful Caversham Valley and so The Caversham Press was born.
Over the years hundreds of local and international artists have passed through the studio creating limited edition prints and books that have been exhibited around the world. Many would stay at The Press, as it is fondly known, at first in the main house and then in the cottages that were built later. In the evening the artists would sit down with Malcolm and family to hearty meals prepared by Ros.
This was the norm in the Christian household, with family life intertwined with those of visiting artists and their own unique stories. Sally, Malcolm’s daughter grew up immersed in this colourful environment and went on to complete a BA(Hons) degree in Fashion in Durban where she then settled and worked for various designers and clothing manufacturers until she married, had children and yearned for the quieter life of the Midlands.
It was decided that Sally would come back to the Midlands and help with things at The Press. However, Malcolm who strongly believes in an individual’s legacy, felt she should have something of her own that was linked to The Press. Before leaving Durban, she and Malcolm had dabbled in some textile printing for a children’s decor range that Sally had created. Textiles had always been one of her passions from early days having built an appreciation of fabrics through Ros’s love of beautiful fabrics and having been taught to sew at a young age. Together they came to the decision to start a fabric house specialising in handprinted fabrics in keeping with the ethos of The Press and with the designs based on elements derived from the Press’s archive of original prints.
Caversham Textiles was launched at Design Indaba in February 2015 and over the following years produced five collections and attended numerous trade shows. The designs from these collections have travelled far and wide, from The Virgin Islands to New Zealand. The printing process was always so satisfying to observe as these striking fabrics were created for clients – and a bit of heart and soul was included in with the orders. The process however was labour intensive and so it was with great heartache that in 2020 Caversham Textiles made the decision to move away from hand printing and across to a digital process. This decision meant giving up the initial focus of traditional printing methods and meant outsourcing the printing. The move to digital has opened the doors to many other designs that would not have been possible through the hand printing process, allowing Caversham Textiles the opportunity to work on some amazing collaborations with other South African women, artists, and surface designers, to great acclaim.
Over the years we have taken in part in numerous events such as Design Indaba, 100% Design, InDesign and have been featured in a multitude of magazines, Elle Decor, Home, Women & Home, Designing Ways, House & Leisure, Home Owner to name a few.
While Caversham Textiles no longer prints in-house we still keep the production local, utilising printers based in Durban. Each print house offers different options, providing Caversham with a wide offering. The end use for the fabrics varies depending on the base cloth and ranges from soft furnishing to upholstery weight.
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