My margins, exposed — July 2026

You know I worked in banking, right?

Before I ever came near a bolt of linen, I knew what success, the economics of a product, and margins looked like. So, when I tell you the numbers below work, they work. And if you want to drop me an enquiry about which sizes you should stock and where the demand sits, do. I have stats, people. If you would like further analysis, let's chat. I'll share what sells. Or email me: bonnie@heavenlyfeather.co.za

I am known as brutally honest. If you are ordering 100 of the 40 x 40cm scatter inners for your shop, I want to know why. Unless they are headed for Europe and its smaller houses, or your client specifies this size, they won't sell.

And if you are designing for a hotel or a private home and want to educate your client on what a magnificent night's sleep feels like, specify our bedlinen. Your clients tell us we have changed their lives. Seriously, this is always the feedback: whatever they were sleeping on before, they thought it was good, until they slept on ours. My Italian bedlinen is exceptional, better than anything you have slept on unless it came from my mill. Be warned, my bedlinen business model is a shocker, because the quality is so good, nobody replaces anything.

We work directly with the source. No agents, no importer, no middleman taking a piece of our pie. The same Italian mill that weaves for the grand European houses has been weaving for us for 15 years. It is how a pillowcase that sells in Europe for €300 leaves our factory for R380.

And I will let you in on the business model: I am in the volume game. I need to sell millions of cushions to pay the rent and the salaries, not 20 precious ones at a precious price. Your volume is my volume. The more you sell, the better this works for both of us. That is why I offer you a volume discount.

If you are a decorator working on the standard 35% markup plus a design fee, the maths does itself. Your client gets Italian-woven linen at a price that makes sense, and your margin stays exactly where it should be. Bed linen is a wonderful, bespoke layer to offer your clients for their homes, and it enhances your design too.

Two things I won't do.

I don't sell what I don't manufacture. If it carries our label, it was made in our Kramerville factory, by our hands. I know the source of every raw material we use, and I stand behind them, because I have tested them and I have most of them in my own home. But that is a story for another letter: the cobbler and his shoes.

And please don't ask me to CMT. I won't, and I don't. My seamstresses and seam masters did not spend years perfecting their craft to work with below-par fabric that does not meet our specifications. Besides, as regular newsletter readers will know, I don't get out of bed for less than $10,000. And if you read between the lines of my last letter, you will know I am saving up for a facelift. They are not cheap.