Klein Karoo International Leather
Fashion in Oudtshoorn

leather manufacturer which offers its products in 37 standard colours in its range of more than 300. Klein Karoo represents more than 800 farmer members and is the biggest supplier of ostrich leather in the world.
The Leather Marketing division is the only ostrich.

The Klein Karoo Co-operative Leather Division will strive to produce the highest quality ostrich leather in accordance with the needs and requirements of our local and international leather customers. Through dedicated research and development, we will continually improve the quality of our product, as well as broaden our product range for specialised market applications. Our on-going commitment to quality improvement will be measurable in terms of the implementation and maintenance of the ISO 9000 international quality management standards. A research and development facility has been set up independently from production within the tannery with state of the art equipment, including eleven experimental drums with all the necessary machinery and tests to develop new products according to our customer requirements. An excellent balance of technical staff and continual in-house training, ostrich leather of the very highest quality is produced. When skins are tanned and finished for the automotive industry it becomes essential that the skins comply exactly with the specifications of each automotive manufacturer. Feather barons became the land barons who flourished in ostrich-feather palaces. Houses were carefully planned, and for architects such as Edmeades it was a challenge to give each ostrich palace, built against the semi-arid Klein Karoo landscape, a unique character. Next to gold, diamonds and wool, ostrich feathers became South Africa’s chief export product. Major disputes arose over water and the searchers after wealth were at each other’s throats. Within a year approximately 80% of all role players in the feather industry were bankrupt. No one thought of ostrich leather, or even the use of ostrich meat, as a secondary industry. Millionaires were back on the street and there was even loss of life. Feathers were still top dog, but producers were haunted by dreams of a tannery. From the farmyard to Paris and from Milan to Madrid. Early travellers made the first reference to ostriches in South Africa around Here at the beginning of a new century, the high quality ostrich skin is a sought-after commodity. Ostrich leather processing at Klein Karoo has advanced tremendously since ostrich skins were first processed here in Since 1945 Klein Karoo has accumulated a wealth of knowledge about ostriches. Today, our leather is the choice of the most discerning buyers from around the world. Klein Karoo represents more than 800 farmer members and is the biggest supplier of ostrich leather in the world. The Leather Marketing division is the only ostrich leather manufacturer which offers its products in 37 standard colours in its range of more than The quality control is of the highest order and consistent throughout the process of preparing the skins. Since then the state of the art Klein Karoo Tannery at Oudtshoorn made excellent progress.