We Don’t Sell Bow Ties, We Sell Art

"A Rock of Society" a red, white and black self-tied bow tie handpainted by Bernardo Marira

"Spring Colour" a purple and magneta coloured self-tied bow tie handpainted by Lin Barrie

"Earth That Feeds Us" a black self-tied bow tie with traditional Zimbabwean patterns and a clay pot handpainted on it in white by Bernardo Marira

Each of our eye-catching, one-of-a-kind pieces are handmade from upcycled fabric offcuts in Mutare, a small city in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, the beautiful country at the heart of Southern Africa.

We send our art out, into the world, to start conversations. Conversations about the positive impact of creativity and inspiration.

Here’s what we love to talk about…

Creative Zimbabwean Artisans

8
sustainable fashion partnerships

We work with 8 artisans in Zimbabwe who create all of our products and packaging by hand with upcycled and recycled materials. Marjorie, who’s featured in this video, is one of the tailors we work with. Selling our pieces around the world allows us to pay our tailors 5 times the minimum wage in Zimbabwe.

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Creative Sustainability

120,000
litres of water saved

Marjorie's hands. One holding an offcut of fabric in place while the other carefully cuts it with a large pair of scissors to make a bow tie

By getting creative and repurposing offcuts of fabric rather than using virgin material to make all of our products we’ve saved over 120,000 litres of water (31,700 gallons). That’s enough water for more than 5 years of daily showers!

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Inspiring The Next Generation

81
creativity awards

Zimbowties Creativity Award winners, Trish, Betty and Munashe standing holding their award certificates. Also in the picture, an invisible Easter egg

We’ve awarded 81 merit-based, creativity awards to talented youngsters in Zimbabwe who we hope to inspire to develop their creative skills and thinking to become the next generation of problem-solvers, change-makers and innovators in Zimbabwe.

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