Elephant Gin launches Maasai beaded bottles

Elephant Gin has launched a series of limited edition sloe gin bottles decorated with handmade bead jewellery crafted by the Kenyan Maasai tribe.

The new bottles are decorated with handmade bead jewellery crafted by the Kenyan Maasai tribe

Since its launch in 2013, the independent gin brand has donated 15% of all its proceeds to two African elephant foundations in Kenya and South Africa to support the preservation of African wildlife – and the 2016 batch of Elephant Sloe Gin is no exception.

Founders Tessa and Robin Gerlach were keen to work close to the communities that safeguard the elephants, and as such approached the Maasai tribe to create the beaded editions.

Beadwork has been part of Maasai culture for generations. Every woman in the tribe is taught the craft, meeting daily to create bracelets, necklaces and pendants, and will go on to teach future generations .

Each Elephant Gin bottle is custom-made with hand-written labels, embossed with a crest and sealed with natural cork. The Maasai edition is wrapped with a string of colourful beads, which can be unravelled to wear as a necklace or as a bracelet as the user wishes.

The Maasai beaded bottle edition retails from £35 per bottle at various retailers across London, including Selfridges.

Tessa said: “As the Elephant Gin brand grows and matures, we were keen to release distinctive items with values that lie at the heart of the brand.

“We are proud to be working so closely with Selfridges and have been heartened by their support of our brand and our cause; we’re equally as excited to bring the focus back to Africa and celebrate exceptional handicraft handicraft.

Elephant Gin uses 14 botanicals including the African superfruit baobab, African wormwood and Buchu, a plant native to western South Africa.