A couple of years ago, I lost a friend to cancer. The grief that followed was the quiet, complicated kind that does not always arrive dramatically but instead settles slowly into the spaces of your everyday life until sadness, guilt and longing begin to feel like familiar companions that have decided to stay.
The Friday before I drove to Lebowakgomo in Limpopo for her funeral, I remember sitting in my office staring at my computer screen, knowing I had work to do but feeling unable to summon the energy to focus on anything. The thought of going home to pack a bag for a trip that would end with saying goodbye to someone I loved felt almost impossible to face.
Work simply wasn’t happening that day.
I did something many Joburgers instinctively do when they need a moment to breathe: I took a walk to 44 Stanley which is opposite our office.
There is something about the place that has a way of bringing life back into you even when you feel emotionally drained. The leafy courtyards, the independent shops and the low hum of people chatting over coffee feel like a small pocket of calm inside a busy city.
It almost feels like escapism.
As I wandered through the courtyard, my phone rang. A friend was calling with a message from Happy’s mom.
“She says she doesn’t want us wearing boring black dresses,” my friend said. “She wants us to dress lively and celebrate her life, even in the way we show up.”
I paused, thinking about the simple black dress I had planned to wear, the standard grief uniform that allows you to quietly blend into the sadness of a funeral.
Well, there goes my outfit, I thought.
And then I saw it.
In the window of Me&B, hanging effortlessly on display, was a black and cream wrap-around dress that looked simple yet striking at the same time, the kind of garment that quietly invites you to step inside and try it on.
I walked in, slipped the dress on and immediately noticed how soft the fabric felt against my skin, how the loose silhouette moved easily with my body and how the comfort of it wrapped around me in a way that felt strangely reassuring on a day when everything else felt emotionally heavy.
It was exactly what I needed without even realising I needed it.
I bought it and from that day on, I called it Happy’s dress.
Even today, years later, when my sister borrows it from my wardrobe, she doesn’t ask for the wrap dress or the black and cream dress.
She simply asks: “Can I wear Happy’s dress?”
Clothing has a strange way of holding memory.
Sometimes it is simply fabric stitched together for style or practicality but other times it becomes something more intimate, quietly holding the stories of the moments we lived through while wearing it.
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to the mother-and-daughter duo behind the brand that unknowingly dressed me for grief, Bettina Swart and Kelly-Grace Gibberd.
What emerged from the conversation was a story that, much like their clothing, is rooted in joy, purpose and a deep understanding of what women want to wear.
The idea for Me&B began with a realisation that many women will recognise: the fashion industry often designs clothing for a narrow version of the female body.
Kelly-Grace explained that both she and her mother had spent years navigating an industry that celebrated fashion but often excluded the bodies of real women.
“Both my mom and I have always been completely obsessed with fashion and the joy that clothing can bring to your everyday life but the reality was that when we walked into stores we simply could not find things that made us feel excited,” she said.
“We are not size 32 or 34. We are curvier women who love personality and colour and fun in our wardrobes, and yet when we looked around the market there was just nothing that felt like it was made with us in mind.”
For years Bettina had worked in fashion manufacturing, developing a deep understanding of how garments are constructed and how clothing should properly fit a woman’s body, while Kelly-Grace had built her career as a buyer for one of South Africa’s major retailers.
Eventually, they realised there was a clear gap in the market.
In 2018, they decided to fill it themselves.
The brand started modestly, with only 20 garments produced as an experiment — simple, comfortable pieces designed to make women feel good the moment they put them on.
Kelly-Grace photographed the garments and posted them on Facebook.
“They were very easy garments, very relaxed pieces that you could simply throw over your body and go about your day feeling comfortable, which is why we started calling them throw-overs. When those first 20 pieces sold out, we realised that women were responding to the simplicity and the comfort of those designs.”
Soon afterwards, a website followed and Instagram became their main marketing platform, helping them reach women across South Africa who were searching for clothing that felt both stylish and inclusive.
When the Covid-19 pandemic arrived and much of the world shut down, Me&B experienced a moment that revealed the strength of their production model.
Because their garments were produced in South Africa, the team was able to send pre-cut fabric to women who could sew the garments from home during lockdown.
“What was incredible about that time was that even though the world had basically stopped and so many people were losing their jobs, we were able to keep working because our manufacturing was local,” Kelly-Grace said.
“We would send the cut fabric home with the women who worked with us, they would sew the garments there and when they were finished, they would deliver them and we would pay them. It meant people could continue earning money and supporting their families during an incredibly uncertain time.”
Some of the women eventually started their own small manufacturing businesses.
Today many of them still work with Me&B.
Another defining feature of the brand is its focus on fabric.
Bettina explained that fabric choice was something they treated with serious attention.
“We are completely obsessed with fabric because the moment a woman touches a garment she immediately knows whether it feels good or not,” she said.
“Women love fabric that is soft, beautiful and breathable against their skin, so we try to work with natural fibres like linen, cotton and tencel because those fabrics not only look beautiful but feel comfortable throughout the day.”
But beyond fabric, fit is the real focus.
Bettina pays close attention to garment grading, the technical process of adjusting a design across different sizes.
“Many brands simply take a size 32 pattern and make it bigger and bigger but the problem with that approach is that the proportions stop making sense on larger bodies,” she explained.
“You will often see seams sitting in the wrong place or garments pulling in awkward ways, so every garment we design is carefully adjusted from size 32 all the way to size 46 to make sure it fits properly.”
The brand releases new pieces every Wednesday, creating a rhythm that keeps customers excited.
However, the founders are quick to push back against the idea that their model is fast fashion.
“People sometimes see the weekly launches and assume we are producing fast fashion but each garment goes through months of development before it ever reaches a store,” Kelly-Grace said.
“We spend a huge amount of time perfecting the fit, choosing the right fabrics and adjusting samples. When the garments finally launch, we produce them in small quantities so the pieces remain quite special.”
From the original 20 garments, Me&B has grown into a national brand with dozens of employees and several stores across South Africa, including a store at Woodlands Boulevard Shopping Centre in Pretoria.
Kelly-Grace remembers seeing the store for the first time.
“When I walked into the Woodlands store and saw our brand sitting inside a proper shopping mall next to international retailers, I honestly became emotional,” she said.
“It felt surreal because you remember where you started, photographing garments in your living room and suddenly you are standing inside a store that represents years of work and belief.”
Despite the growth, the founders remain focused on building the business slowly and sustainably.
Their long-term vision is to open around 20 stores across South Africa while maintaining the personal feeling that defines the brand.
Because ultimately, Me&B is not just about clothing, it is about how women feel when they put on something that truly fits them.
Bettina shared a story about a woman who walked into one of their stores having never worn pants in her entire life because she had never found a pair that fit her body.
That day she tried on a pair and they fit perfectly.
She left smiling and moments like that are what keep them going.
As for me, every time I wear that wrap dress, I remember my friend.
Happy.
And I remember that sometimes a simple piece of clothing can hold an entire story, a story of grief, a story of love and a dress that, even years later, still carries her name.
What begins as a search for the right dress for a difficult goodbye becomes a window into the heart and purpose behind Me&B, a South African label celebrating comfort, confidence and inclusivity
