About African Shade

African Shade's unique furniture designs are the brainchild of company founder and managing director Wade Simleit, who spent time in the engineering industry but later realised woodwork provided a better outlet of his considerable artistic flair. His engineering background did however stand him in good stead when designing furniture that will last for a very long time.

Wade's first African Shade project in 1996 was the thatch roof garden swing, which evolved via a number of design improvements to become the exquisite item you see displayed on this web site.

Table and bench sets, patio/garden benches, coffee tables and other designs soon followed when Wade saw there was demand for the kind of furniture he wanted to make.

African Shade now employs 25 carpenters, all trained personally by Wade, at our factory in Plettenberg Bay on South Africa's Eastern Cape coast.