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MA Exclusive: Katleho is Building a luxury perfume brand, Maison Sheba
We sat down with Katleho Sebiloane, founder of Maison Sheba, a luxury fragrance house defined by intention and craft. Rooted in storytelling, Maison Sheba goes beyond perfume to explore memory, culture, and identity - where each scent is carefully composed to evoke emotion and presence. Through a balance of refinement and modernity, the brand reflects a thoughtful approach to luxury, one that values meaning as much as beauty, and positions fragrance as a quiet yet powerful form of self-expression
Photo provided by Maison Sheba
Q&A
Q. Can you share the inspiration and story behind your fragrance brand?
A: Maison Sheba was born from a desire to tell Africa’s stories through scent - to bottle heritage, memory, personal experiences, and beauty in a way that feels both luxurious and deeply personal. Growing up in South Africa, I was surrounded by a rich tapestry of cultures, landscapes, and textures. Yet, in the world of luxury perfumery, I rarely saw our voice represented from the inside. Too often, it is described through surface-level attributes, without exploring the deeper narratives - the ones that convey what it truly feels like to be South African, in both the light and the shadow, highlighting the richness and complexity of the experience. I wanted to create a house that changes that.
Maison Sheba is a chimera - where heritage meets contemporary artistry. The name itself reflects this fusion: Maison is a French word meaning “house of,” and Sheba is a Sesotho word meaning “look.” Together, it is an invitation to see Africa differently — through our lens, our craft, and our voice. Every Maison Sheba fragrance is created entirely in-house, from the first spark of inspiration to the final blend, making each scent a true extension of my vision and our shared identity
Q: What do you believe sets your fragrances apart in today’s luxury market?
A: Maison Sheba tells a different story. For us, fragrance is more than seduction, power, or influence — it’s about identity. Born in the heart of South Africa, we set out not to simply celebrate our landscapes or skim the surface of our cultures, but to capture what it feels like to be African.
Every blend is infused with the character, spirit, and emotion of our people. Maison Sheba is our way of telling our stories, our way - revealing a side of Africa rarely seen in luxury. Not just our nature, not just our resources, and not just a tapestry of cultures, but Africa as a voice, as a presence, and as a symbol of refinement and craftsmanship. Through our scents, we want people to experience the wonder of perfumery through a new eye - the eye of Africa.
Photo provided by Maison Sheba
Q. How do you want people to feel when they experience your scents?
A: Bold, seen, and inspired. I believe we’ve achieved that - our fragrances echo the names they carry, resonating not only with our stories but serving as tools for you to tell yours. At Maison Sheba, we express complex ideas through scent.
Take Lehakoe, for example - a masterful contrast of jammy raspberry-plum and animalic, smoky oud. It was inspired by the Sesotho saying “Lehakoe la pelo yaka” - “the jewel of my heart.” It speaks to closeness, to the tension and duality between the softness and ferocity of love. That’s what I want our fragrances to do - capture emotion in all its complexity and let the wearer embody it.
Q. What has been the most defining moment in your journey as a creator so far?
A: The most defining moment was the day I mixed my first fragrance. I was still a student then, and my mom had a habit of buying me three months’ worth of groceries. But at the start of 2022, I decided, “Mom, I’m a man now” - and insisted I’d handle feeding myself. Predictably, I didn’t manage. I was a broke student with no job. One day, sitting in my room, I came across a video by José Zúñiga from Teaching Men’s Fashion. He had just launched his fragrance brand, Santa Lucia. Fueled by the waterfall dream - and, honestly, a bit by hunger - I told myself, “Surely I can do this too.” I had no idea how expensive and complex it was to craft a truly high-quality fragrance.
When my NSFAS allowance came in, I spent all R6,000 of it on my first bottles and a dupe oil of what was meant to be Bleu de Chanel (up until then, the only expensive fragrance I’d ever worn - once, at my matric dance). Back then, my brand colours were red and white, symbolising the boldness of wanting to make the world sit up and pay attention. I had the “brilliant” idea of colouring the fragrance red with food colouring.
So, I walked to the nearest grocery store, bought a bottle of food colouring for R5, and proceeded to ruin a 5-litre batch of perfume worth R4,500. As a student, that was a lot of money to watch go down the drain. But when I sat with myself afterwards, something in me said, “Keep going.” That moment - the disaster, the lesson, and the decision not to quit - is what truly started my journey and brought Maison Sheba to where it is today
No funding. No dramatic backstory. No formal perfumery education. Just a spark of inspiration and the courage to see it through. Today, I am a self-taught perfumer creating my fragrances entirely from scratch - and every time I look back, I still feel a sense of wonder at how far that one moment has taken me.
