About Olli & Rose
Olli & Rose started in a garage in 2018, when two sisters — Yolandi and Monica — decided South African women deserved leather bags that were both beautiful and built for real life. What began as a passion project has grown into a Cape Town workshop crafting bags worn by over 17,000 women across the country. Every stitch is still done by hand, by a small team that genuinely cares about what they make.
The name
Olli comes from the life motto their late father lived by — One Life, Live It — and from his nickname Ollie, a nod to the Olwage surname he carried with pride. Rose comes from Roos, the surname Yolandi married into. Together, the name carries the story of family, legacy and the belief that the things you carry should mean something.
How it started
In 2017 Yolandi and her husband Gareth welcomed baby Jordan — and with a newborn came the realisation that the perfect leather diaper bag simply didn't exist. So they made one. Monica joined the vision and between two sisters with BCom degrees in Business Management and Marketing, years of entrepreneurial experience, and a shared stubbornness to never settle for average — Olli & Rose was born.
WHY WE DO IT
We make bags for women who refuse to choose between style and practicality. Bags that work as hard as you do, look good doing it, and last long enough to become part of your story. Handcrafted in Cape Town, with genuine leather, by people who take pride in every stitch.