Our Story

Rethread is a Cape Town-based fashion label creating bold, versatile clothing in small batches. Born from a love of design and a desire to do things differently, we reimagine wardrobe staples through thoughtful craftsmanship, circular thinking, and a whole lot of personality.

Rethread was born in Amsterdam in 2019.

At the time, our founder Alexa Schempers was completing a Master’s in Fashion Enterprise Creation at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute - a program built around one bold brief: create a fashion business from scratch.

Two years (and many experiments) later, Rethread officially launched in Cape Town in November 2020 with a capsule collection of upcycled, new, and vintage pieces.

Today, Rethread is a proudly local label based in Cape Town, creating small-batch collections that blend thoughtful design with circular principles.

Some of our pieces are upcycled - reworked from vintage garments into something entirely new. Others are made from fabric roll, crafted locally by skilled artisans in Cape Town. And every now and then, we source a curated drop of vintage gems we just couldn’t leave behind.

But all are designed with intention: made to last, made to be worn often, and made to be reimagined in your own way.