Meet the Zimbabwean Designer Turning Tree Bark, Hibiscus and Goat Fur into High Fashion

If you thought fashion had to come from a factory, Bulawayo-based designer Nkanyeziyethu Malunga is here to prove otherwise. The 37-year-old behind label GANU creates clothes and accessories dyed with plants, tree bark, tubers and hibiscus — materials she gathers from the environment around her.

Her methods are rooted in childhood lessons from her late grandmother, Ngatsha Nkatha, who lived in Tsholotsho and turned sisal, sedge and reeds into winnowing baskets. "She was very dexterous with her fingers, and that passion eventually became mutual," Malunga told IOL.

From Marula to Mohair

Launched in 2013, GANU takes its name from iganu, the Ndebele word for marula fruit. Malunga blends basketry, crocheting, batik and beadwork with natural dyes, leather and locally sourced materials. She even keeps Angora goats for their fur, which she straightens and dyes for garments, and softens cowhide from local abattoirs at a tannery.

It is not just about aesthetics. Malunga says rural colleagues help harvest sisal and tree barks, creating work for women while keeping traditional skills alive.

Saving Vanishing Art on Fabric

In 2024, she founded Matobo Goes Fashion And Beyond, partnering with Ekhaya-gaia and the Amagugu International Heritage Center to turn traditional hut paintings into contemporary clothing. Since rainfall can wash away undocumented patterns, reproducing them on fabric preserves designs that might otherwise disappear.

Cultural entrepreneur Desmond Ntini believes her work "redefines the fashion industry" by showing how African identity can drive modern, sustainable design. For pageant and fashion fans across Southern Africa, Malunga offers a compelling case that the future of style may lie in the past.

Source: IOL