Because every story deserves to shine.

The beginning

I came to the United States from South Africa in 2021—alone and hopeful, carrying a homesickness no map could solve. The phone calls home were never long enough. For years I counted the birthdays and Christmases I missed, and the hard days I could only call in for. While I waited for my work permit, I wasn’t allowed to work; the days were quiet, and I learned what it means to grieve across an ocean. Starting from nothing, I taught myself every stitch and every engraving—hours I’ll never get back—because I believe what I’m building will not only change my life, it can change a moment in yours.

I bought a small embroidery machine to pass the time. The steady hum became a kind of prayer. My first piece was a line-art outline of me and my brothers—nothing fancy, just thread tracing a memory I was afraid to lose. When I pulled that hoodie over my head, I cried. It felt like a hug I could wear when I couldn’t be there. That was the first time I understood that cloth and thread can hold what distance tries to take.

In January, my grandmother, Marianne, became very ill. Because of visa restrictions, I couldn’t go home. When she passed, there was no last hug, no goodbye—only the ache and the knowing. I engraved her name—and her favorite song, “Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk”—on a necklace. That tiny weight against my chest didn’t fix the shattering, but it gave my hands something to hold when they needed to remember love.

That is the day this brand found its name.