We first met the face of Melvill & Moon, Rob Melvill, at a Land Rover festival near Johannesburg, South Africa, back in 2011. Rob and his son James had their booth set up beside our Land Rover; we soon became friends and acquired a set of seat covers for our journey up to Tanzania. Fast forward 13 years of overland travel across continents, and Melvill & Moon products have been our constant stylish and reliable companions. We have enjoyed not only their bulletproof seat covers but also camping chairs, toiletry bags, and duffel bags—products that have stood the test of time and travel while bringing a touch of class to our wild adventures.
Melvill & Moon is a family-owned and operated company with deep African roots extending back eight generations. The Melvill family first arrived in Africa in the late 1700s and has remained since, building a legacy through diverse roles as missionaries, cattle ranchers, land surveyors, and lawyers. Central to the family’s history is a shared dedication to Africa and an enduring passion for the safari experience, which continues to shape the company’s identity and mission. Based in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth, the Melvill & Moon team has earned a reputation for exceptional quality, leading to their range being exported to discerning customers abroad with distributors in Europe, Mexico, the Middle East, and now in the US.
What is Melvill & Moon’s origin story?
During our time living and working in Nairobi while also owning and managing Olonana (our bush camp in the Maasai Mara that we bought from Kingsley Holgate (interviewed by Scott Brady in April 2024), we explored and marveled at the wonders of Kenya, traveling throughout East Africa on many safaris. Family visits were a real treat, and on occasion, Rick and Sue [Melvill and Moon founders] and their boys visited us for an extended stay, exploring the country and pursuing their passion for Africa and its history. Being serial entrepreneurs, they immediately returned to South Africa and, in 1998, began turning their dream of developing a wholly South African safari brand into a reality, first with seat covers for 4x4s and then a range of luggage. The Melvill & Moon motto and ethos is Laudator Temporis Acti (loosely translated as the romance of an age gone by), and our products will always be steeped in heritage and practicality.
What was the first product that Melvill & Moon designed and sold?
We started with seat covers, after being immersed in the pioneering Kenyan way, traveling in bush planes and Land Rovers in East Africa—most of which were equipped with canvas seat covers to keep the murram mud and dust from penetrating everything. At that time, canvas seat covers were not the norm in South Africa, and Rick’s idea of making your car seats more relaxed and comfortable to sit on, enhancing the comfort and quality of your 4×4 journey, was the focus. We also had farmers in mind with their work-horse pickups and planes. [For] fabric, 510-gram, 100 percent cotton canvas was sourced (and woven exclusively for us, initially), and at that time, there were no other vehicle seat covers available besides the old sheepskin variety that most Mercedes-Benz owners used and the one-size-fits-all synthetic seat protectors. Initially, our seat covers were made and packaged in a hard-wearing tin ammo box and presented and fitted by Rick in person, accompanied by a piper to herald the purchase.
Quite soon after this, Safari luggage was added to the range. At the ‘turn of the century,’ Rick and Sue returned to their other advertising ventures, and Rob and Dael, having just landed back from Kenya, bought into Melvill & Moon, making it wholly family-owned and run. We continued the production and moved it to Port Elizabeth/Gqeberha, where the campaign furniture product range was born. Our son James also has a stake in the business and manages things from Cape Town, where we have outlets—in the Watershed manned by Patience and Tashi, and at the Foundry in de Waterkant, where Ags is your go-to guy. Patricia manages our shop in Kramerville, Johannesburg. At the head office in Port Elizabeth, you will be assisted by Kirsten Smith and Kirsten Taylor Smith (yes, I know this is somewhat confusing) and Whitney, who heads up operations and internal sales.
Take us through Melvill & Moon’s manufacturing process.
Our products are all handmade, and components are locally sourced wherever possible. For some of the top-range products, we use sustainable woods and, for this reason, import oak and walnut from Canada and the USA. Each artisan, some of whom have been with us for 15 years, has been trained in-house and takes immense pride in everything they make. They make an entire piece/part from start to finish; there are no production lines in our factories. Most of our products are created using multiple skill sets, combining leather craftspeople, carpenters, and our talented sewists for the canvas. This means each person must produce their best work to ensure the combination results in one top-quality product.
Thus, teamwork is paramount. All end products are diligently checked by our quality controllers, and hardly anything untoward slips past them. Many of our factory staff started at the Ray Mhlaba Skills Training Centre in Port Elizabeth, a training center that teaches disadvantaged teenagers rudimentary hospitality, sewing, and carpentry skills. Phakamisa, who has been with us for 11 years, is now a joint foreman in the woodworking factory. Once they join, all candidates are trained and developed into carpenters and artisans, enabling them to produce top-quality products. This is Rob’s passion. Creating lifelong skills and competency, improving potential, and ensuring each person has a better future. Assisted by and along with Zandi, Alice, Linda, and Whitney, the day-to-day running of all the factories is taken care of.
What makes Melvill & Moon unique?
South Africans (as well as our export clients) are discerning and require practicality and aesthetics to all roll into one. Thus, the demand for handsome, useful products will always be there. All our products, based on classic designs from the old safari era, fulfill that desire. Many of the items have been made at the request of local customers to replicate their grandfather’s old farming bag or create a product from fond memories of journeys traveled in Africa with family or friends. Genuine leather, cotton canvas, and solid brass are always the materials of choice to fulfill our quest to create and produce long-lasting products to be handed down to the next generation. We focus on strength, quality, and hard-wearing components. When visiting our stores, you will be filled with the natural aroma of polished leather and wood, which enhances your experience of heritage and handmade goods.
What modifications do Melvill & Moon make to their products to make them stand out from the rest?
The styling was initially created and designed around age-old examples of historically useful products. We also like to share the story of the origin of each product so that the connection to its heritage is acknowledged and appreciated. Thereafter, every product has been developed with the same look and feel, ensuring each is appealing and practical while being inspirational and aspirational. Although we started with safari-inspired products, many have been modified and modernized, entering more urban applications while maintaining quality. We offer a repair service for mishaps and ‘breakdowns’ and will replace any defective product that fails our quality artistry standards. We aim to ensure all our products last longer than expected and survive in harsh and rugged environments.
What are some challenges you’ve had to overcome as the company has grown?
We never thought it would be easy. The length of time it takes to make some of our handmade products—many of the skills needed aren’t taught elsewhere, or they take a long while to get right. Some of our furniture pieces have reached a point where they compare with the work of top European artisans. No business is immune to challenges, and overcoming them keeps us all going forward. We are incredibly grateful that we live and work in this beautiful country and can continue to do what we do with ever-increasing skills and loyal staff, without whom we could not continue to grow and compete in the ever-changing economic climate. It is essential to mention that the continued support of many local 4×4 businesses is our bread and butter here in SA. There are so many of them, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them all.
What products would you recommend for first-time overlanders?
You must have a set of seat covers to enhance your 4×4 journey. Kingsley Holgate has used our seat covers on all his trips since 2000. An essential would be a duffel—there are three different types in our range made from one of five different fabrics. Most likely, you’d need an African Ranch bag or a Bladsak and a couple of toiletry/cosmetic bags. Then, if you’re doing short stops, you’ll want a couple of field chairs with any of the five different table types. We always take along a Harry Moon washbasin for use, and it doubles as a drinks cooler/holder filled with cold water or ice if you have that luxury along with you. If you’ve mastered the assembly, which is super quick with practice, there’s little to beat the comfort and versatility of the Roorkhee chair on safari [which] harks back to yesteryear yet is so useful is a foul weather cover.
What are Melvill & Moon’s most popular products?
All of the above, plus our Field Bar, Djinn Bar, or Odyssey Bar. The latter is modeled on a version Kingsley has traveled the entire African continent with, as well as his Bulawayo bag and Everyday bag, which accompany him on every trip. Then, in the luggage range, there are the Catalina bags for those who prefer a more giant travel bag—named after the magnificent amphibious Catalina flying boats, the most underrated aircraft in WWII.
Are there any exciting new products you can tell me about?
We’ve recently produced our version of the Butterfly chair, which is available in small quantities. Several leatherware items are still in development, and as always, many new vehicles and aircraft seat covers, which, as technology enhances these incredible new vehicles and seats, make covering them more and more skillful. The recently added Exhibition wheel cover has pockets for the “dirtier” things that must be stowed on a 4×4 trip or Safari, such as your braai grid and a rubbish bag. These are absolute essentials but best kept outside your vehicle. Our new Adventure box is collapsible, designed to organize all your picnic paraphernalia (impahla) into one bag, making lots of smaller things easier to stow and move in and out of the vehicle in one go.
Melvill & Moon is currently going global. Where in the world can people find your products today?
We have been exporting globally for many years and have stockists in the UK (uk.melvillandmoon.com), Germany (de.melvillandmoon.com), and Ohio (africansportingcreations.com ). More recently, we are happy to announce that Matt Scott is a reseller in Arizona (adventureimports.com). And Bristol Imports, headed up by Luis Morton in Mexico, has just become a stockist (mx.melvillandmoon.com). They will be launching their collection at the opening of their new shop in Mexico City in November.
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