Frances van Hasselt

ABOUT THE ARTIST

‘As a custodian of mohair, landscape, and craftsmanship, Frances van Hasselt, with her soft-spoken yet stoic personality, shapes her own moment on earth,’ writes Lidewij Edelkoort in her latest Forecast.

Frances van Hasselt grew up in the Karoo, the vast semi-desert region of South Africa where her family has raised Angora goats for generations. Mohair – the hair of the Angora goat – is one of the world’s oldest and most sustainable natural fibres. South Africa is the largest producer of mohair, and it is from this local richness that Van Hasselt has built a practice in which material, landscape and community are inextricably connected.

She lived in, among other places, Hong Kong, Japan and Italy, where she immersed herself in textile traditions and artisanal techniques. A meeting with a Japanese textile master pointed the way: rather than imitating an existing tradition, she had to develop something rooted in her own ecosystem.

Back in the Karoo, she founded a studio that now works with fifteen women artisans. Every step of the making process is done by hand: from washing and spinning to dyeing, weaving, crocheting, felting and finishing. Irregularities are not erased, but cherished.

Van Hasselt’s greatest source of inspiration is the Karoo: its endless horizon, fierce midday light and layers of ancient rock determine the rhythm, colours and forms of her work. The irregularity of the yarn and weave reflects the subtle shifts of this landscape: rugged and soft, sparse and rich at once. Her whitewashed studio sits against the mountains. It has an old acacia tree on the forecourt, a wooden awning and holes in the wall through which sparrows fly in and out. ‘I think about every detail, care for every thread,’ she laughs, ‘and then suddenly I find it negotiable that those birds come in and shit all over the place.’

Nicole Ex: ‘I cannot help but draw a comparison with the radical life and work of Georgia O’Keeffe in the inhospitable landscape of New Mexico: synchronising with a specific place and translating it into something made by human hands. That is what produces the best art.’

In this Art Room, you will find a selection of handmade mohair blankets and wraps, voorskote – aprons – and textile works from Frances van Hasselt’s studio.

Please note: this Art Room is open until 26 July; after that, ordering will no longer be possible. We will place all orders received at the same time, so they can be shipped together. Expected delivery from South Africa: by the end of August 2026 at the latest.

SOFA MOHAIR BLANKETS

SOFA, an acronym for Supporting Old Factories in Africa, is a collection working with iconic mohair factories and together create new imaginings around locally produced mohair products.

Each blanket in this range carries its own name, derived from the landscape, architecture and plant life of the Karoo. They come in different colourways, in shades of pink, blue, grey, red or green. They are made from locally sourced mohair yarns and are of unparalleled softness and quality.

Nicole Ex: ‘One blanket came home with me in my suitcase. And it fit, so light and airy. I can no longer do without it and sit under it every evening, as if I have a little animal with me that gives warmth. Yet even on summer evenings, it feels as though you are protected from the heat.’

Dimensions: 130 x 180 cm

Material: locally spun, South African mohair yarns

Would you prefer to order a double blanket for your bed? Send us a message.

SOFA MOHAIR APPAREL COLLECTION

A WEARABLE LANDSCAPE

The colours and forms of the aprons from the FVH x LM Voorskoot Vygies collection refer to the vygie, a Karoo-centric succulent that, when the rains finally arrive, transforms the arid earth into a fleeting carpet of purple, orange and almost unreal greens.

All aprons are unique. They are made to be worn, with a belt or band over your trousers or skirt, but they are just as much textile works that look beautiful on the wall. They do not only refer to the colours of the Karoo; they are handwoven landscapes in themselves.

Material: this collection plays with a wide range of mohair yarns (some hand-spun, some industrially spun in South Africa) to showcase how when you understand your materials you can paint with yarns to create different feels and forms.

Dimensions: see invidual works

This is a limited edition collection of 21 once-off pieces. Would you like to see other designs? Send us a message.

ARE WE THERE YET? | TEXTILE WORKS

Are We There Yet? is the title of a new collection of textile works by Frances v.H Mohair studio. ‘Are we there yet?’ is the plea of children in the back seat, for whom the journey quickly feels long enough. The semi-desert of the Karoo follows a different arc of suspense: here, time is stacked in layers of earth.

This spirit of live and let live also characterises the weaving, which Van Hasselt creates with a team of local makers. The colour and stratification of the land are woven into the work, but above all it radiates the pleasure of making, with humour and self-mockery. The makers express themselves in mohair, which is soft and lustrous as silk when it comes from baby goats. Nicole Ex: ‘I saw the wall hangings outdoors, in an old barn, and in the studio against a white wall. I saw how they are woven, how the hair is dyed and spun. In real life, these woven works are so much more infectious than they are in photographs.’

Material: a selection of hand-spun and locally made mohair yarns using a variety of mohair (from baby goat to adult mohair to show the fibres diversity).

Dimensions: see individual artworks

Please note: the textile works can only be picked up at See All This in Amsterdam.

Would you like to know more about the available works? Send us a message.