How Karin Rae Matthee’s South African And German Heritage Inspired Her To Establish Her Jewellery Brand Called ‘Dear Rae’
How Karin Rae Matthee’s South African And German Heritage Inspired Her To Establish Her Jewellery Brand Called ‘Dear Rae’. Karin Rae Matthee’s love for jewellery began at Stellenbosch University where she studied a BA fine Art (Jewellery and Metal Techniques) and in 2008 completed a semester at the Pforzheim Hochschule in Germany. After this, drawing on inspirations from her diverse South African and German family heritage, Karin was inspired to launch Dear Rae in 2010.
Karin’s passion for empowering and employing local South Africans has been a driving force in the business. Each Dear Rae piece is designed and made by Karin and her hand picked manufacturers at her Cape Town based studio. In 2020, with an ever-expanding following both locally and internationally, it made sense for the company to update its international online store for overseas customers. The company identified the need to create a more streamlined logistics approach to how it sells in foreign countries and after a few nights around the brainstorming table, Dear Rae World was born.
The company’s new website, dearraeworld.com, offers a user-friendly experience that ensures hassle-free product delivery from South Africa to its main fulfilment centre and handpicked team in the UK. This makes shipping much faster and customs pricing more affordable so that no matter where it’s customers are in the world, purchasing and coveting a Dear Rae piece is now fully accessible.
Dear Rae is so grateful to have Holly Muir heading up the international store, having just made London her new home after being part of its South African team for 2 years. Combining her passion for e-commerce and an insatiable drive to grow the South African business internationally, she now oversees all of its global operations.
