Editéur Plus Editéur Plus - The Fourteenth Issue | Page 28

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EDITÉUR PLUS
EDEN & CO. QUALITY
LEATHER GOODS
by Stephan Weilbach
From starting a small student business with only R800 each, to
building a world-class luxury brand: How did it all start? Conrad
Basson and Nikke Strydom (founders of Eden & Co.) grew up in
two very different parts of South Africa. Conrad grew up on a
farm near Malmesbury in the Swartland region of the Western
Cape. While Nikke was born in Kwazulu-Natal, as a toddler,
she moved with her family to a farm in the Karoo. After high
school, both of them went to university, with Nikke studying a
Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities at the University of Pretoria
and Conrad a Bachelors of Commerce in Stellenbosch. It was
during their undergraduate studies that they met. Nikke and
fellow students went to Stellenbosch for a visit, and halfway
through Nikke’s studies for her honours degree in History, she
moved to Stellenbosch in order to follow subjects at the Uni-
versity of Stellenbosch. It was during this period that they real-
ized the potential of a leather business and they subsequently
started Eden & Co. The following three years, they completed
their studies, both of them holding Masters Degrees from the
University of Stellenbosch – Nikke in History and Conrad in
Commerce.
They both share a love for the outdoors and enjoy spending
time outside. They are both very keen mountain bikers. Nikka
also enjoys hiking, while Conrad tends to be more interested
in water sports like kitesurfing and surfing. Both appreciate
the simple and authentic things in life and they spend a lot of
time reading books. They enjoy working with their hands; Nik-
ke is very good at painting and drawing, and recently Conrad
built his first electric guitar.
Leather craft has been in Nikke’s family for many generations,
and no one else in the family has done leather work to such a
commercial extent as these two do now. This family trait led
to her uncle making a beautiful leather bag for his son, Nikke’s
cousin and one day on their way to her grandpa’s funeral, she
saw the bag and decided to make one herself. Nikke got an
old piece of vegetable tanned leather and made herself a very
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