2007
In 2007, after 10 years of freelancing, self-taught illustrator Heather Moore got lonely, so she found a half day job writing comics. This is where she discovered the Internet, blogs, and Etsy’s online marketplace.
Eventually, she could no longer contain her enthusiasm for pattern so she rented a studio on Cape Town’s Long Street and started making papercuts and patterns inspired by everyday things and midcentury style, which she screenprinted onto fabric.
She launched a blog – named Skinny laMinx after her skinny little siamese cat – and an Etsy shop too, where she began selling her simple, clear screenprinted tea towels and hand-cut fridge magnets.
2008-2009
Online sales grew, and so did Heather’s studio. Then, one day, everything got ramped up a notch or ten when Skinny laMinx got its first major wholesale order from Heath Ceramics in Sausalito, California.
By 2009 the business had become so busy that Heather quit her comics-writing job. Her husband Paul says it was a very, very intense time…
When we opened our shop in 2011, we made this super-cute stop-motion animation telling our story.
2011-2013
Crisis struck when Heathér’s studio was to be demolished. But she discovered an oil-covered scooter shop on Bree Street and transformed it into a gorgeous little store.
Within a year Skinny laMinx leased the floor above the shop too, and moved a team in to produce everything on site. Bree Street became Cape Town’s most chic shopping district soon after.
2014-2020
Over the next 5 years, the team grew to include a wholesale department, a marketing team, and a dedicated online store manager.
By 2017 more expansion was needed, and a clever renovation resulted in the little storefront doubling in size.
2021
December 2021 marked the 10 year anniversary of the Skinny laMinx shop at 201 Bree Street. The decade anniversary coincided with getting through the tough times of the Covid19 pandemic, and we’ve chosen to continue our business…. online.
Our team is still busy in our upstairs studio with our team, making, designing, selling, packing and planning, and sending orders across the globe. Lots has changed, but the business continue to be a beloved lifestyle brand both home and abroad.
And the moral of the story? Businesses named after cats are guaranteed to flourish, through good times and bad.