House of Arlo · Cape Town
About House of Arlo
Inspired by South Africa. Made for a life outside.
A little about me, and how House of Arlo began
I’m Kirsty Cook, the founder of House of Arlo. I love to travel and explore the world; however Cape Town is home. I’ve spent the past decade working in marketing. But I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart: full of ideas, with a growing urge to bring something of my own into the world. Something that captures the beauty that I see in the world and encourages everyone to spend more time adventuring.
My first step was importing a brand I already loved from the US: Govino. Becoming its South African distributor gave me a business to nurture, and showed me how much I love working with physical products. Choosing them. Building a brand around them. Seeing them become part of someone’s everyday life.
House of Arlo grew from that experience, and from a question I kept coming back to: what could I create here, in South Africa, that reflects the beauty around us and helps people get out and enjoy it?
The name House of Arlo came to me some time ago, and stayed. I loved the way it sounded and the feeling it held: something beautiful, considered and made with care. It felt like a home for the brand I wanted to build.
The inspiration
Beautiful to live with. Made to be used.
As a proud South African, I don’t take our outdoors for granted. There is so much to explore, and so much beauty in the details we walk past every day. I wanted to bring that into pieces that encourage us to get out, explore and reconnect with nature.
I want you to feel proud to own a House of Arlo piece. To leave it out at home because it brings something beautiful to the room. To take it somewhere and have someone ask, ‘Where did you find that?’
But looks will never be the whole story. My first priority is to create pieces that are practical, functional and well made. A picnic blanket should be a pleasure to use, not just to photograph. A cooler should earn its place on every outing. Beauty matters, but usefulness comes first.
The collaboration
Seeing nature through Lisa’s eyes
For our first collaboration, I’m working with botanical artist Lisa Strachan. Originally from Cape Town and now living in Port Owen, Velddrif, Lisa finds beauty in the plants and flowers around her, then brings those observations to life through art.
Her watercolours are full of the tiny details that make you look twice. Specialising in rare and indigenous plants, she works with meticulous attention to their form and character, aiming to capture each subject as accurately as possible. Her work has been collected and exhibited in South Africa, the UK, the USA, Europe, Ireland and Australia.
It’s a joy to see her artwork find a new home on our picnic cooler bags, blankets and can sleeves: the oxalis in classic blue, local flowers in their natural colours, and black-and-cream artwork on a can sleeve.
The making
Finding our people in Cape Town
A glimpse inside our Cape Town manufacturing partner’s workshop. Silent video.
I wanted to design and make our own collection here in South Africa. Finding the right manufacturing partner took time and effort, but it mattered to me.
When I visited the Cape Town manufacturer now making our bags, I was drawn to the people and the atmosphere as much as to the work itself. There was a warmth about the place. It felt like a team I wanted to work with.
That’s where our picnic cooler bags are being made. I’m looking forward to sharing more of the people and the sewing behind them.
Meet the artist & the makers →A considered beginning
We’re starting with a few products and a small selection of designs, giving this first collection room to find its people before we grow. I want each new piece to earn its place in the range, rather than make everything at once. As we grow, we’ll keep looking for more sustainable ways to design, make and do business.
My hope is that House of Arlo will feel at home with fellow South Africans, and become something visitors can take home too: a useful reminder of a place they fell in love with.
There are plenty more ideas ahead. For now, I’m excited to share this beginning with you.
Connect with Kirsty
If any of this speaks to you, I’d love to hear from you. Whether you have a question, an idea for a collaboration or simply want to say hello, please get in touch.
Kirsty Cook
Founder, House of Arlo
Coming soon.