South Africa’s furniture all-stars join forces at 100% Design Africa’s New Reflections.
WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Supplied
From 5-8 June, the Mother City’s design and decor scene comes to life with the return of Decorex Cape Town – an exciting four days of showcases, talks and product launches.
This year’s event at the CTICC sees the introduction of New Reflections – the 100% Design Africa Local Pavilion – celebrating local talent at the forefront of South Africa’s design future. Curated by Decorex Africa’s Creative Directors Garreth van Niekerk and Alan Hayward, the design hub will feature a host of unmissable product launches, limited-edition pieces and exciting collaborations.
“This showcase reflects on where we’ve come from and where we’re headed, exploring themes of democracy in design, material innovation and creative collaboration,” says Garreth van Niekerk. “By looking both back at our heritage and forward to new possibilities, New Reflections presents a vision for the future of South African design — one that is bold, inclusive and deeply rooted in our culture and craft traditions.”
New Reflections will feature South African all-stars who approach their practice through fresh design lenses, including design luminaries such as Mash.T Design Studio, Ananta Design Studio, Greg Marshall Design, Stuart Graham Fabrics, African Jacquard, Curación Collection, UNI FORM, The Mood Collectives, House of Harhaz, The Urbanative, Vitalli., Clout/SA and Indigenus.
Here’s are some of our must-sees at the pavilion:
Mash.T Design Studio‘s high-end handcrafted collectable designs have travelled to prestigious international institutions, including the Musée des Arts Décoratifs at the Louvre and the Centre Pompidou in Paris… and now Decorex Cape Town. The lighting atelier will showcase its new Smiley Pendant – a bold beaded lighting piece available to shop at the 100% Design Africa Local Pavilion.
Local textile brand African Jacquard will present their latest creations, namely the Kelp Forest Collection and Outdoor Kuba Collection. The Kelp Forest Collection is woven from natural fibres, such as cotton and linen, plus SeaCell™, a future fabric combining cellulose fibres with organic brown seaweed, embodying the perfect synergy of nature and technology. The Outdoor Kuba Collection is inspired by the rich geometric patterns of traditional Kuba cloth from the Congo. This boutique collection marks a new chapter for the brand as it ventures into high-performance outdoor fabrics.
Ananta Design Studio, led by sisters Viveka and Rucita Vassen, will bring their colourful flair and functional art to the pavilion and standalone booth. The designer duo are launching their new beaded vases and will showcase the Klopse Blomme chair, created for Cape Town Furniture Week 2025‘s Kaapenhagen Design Challenge earlier this year.
Founded by award-winning designer Ryan Olivier, Vitalli. creates collectible furniture that speaks to the raw, unfiltered beauty in imperfection. The brand will showcase its AKKA Side Table, KARA Bench as part of the pavilion.
This year, Clout/SA is celebrating a decade of facilitating Nando’s Hot Young Designer (HYD) talent search and its ongoing collaborations with young local designers. “Clout/SA is super excited to have been invited to participate in this year’s New Reflections – 100% Design Africa Local Pavilion at Decorex Cape Town. To celebrate 10 years of Nando’s HYD we are showcasing a few designs from our first woven upholstery fabric collection for Nando’s, featuring patterns by four of our HYD pattern designers. The collection was launched in Manchester in the UK recently. The fabrics will be upholstered onto our iconic school chair – this humble chair manufactured by Naturalis is one of the top-selling products on the Portal to Africa. We have sold hundreds of this unique chair locally and globally and each time we sell one, we print a selected HYD pattern onto the chair’s back. The use of the pattern earns the pattern designer a licence fee and this passive income helps our pattern designers build their businesses. The pattern makers whose patterns have been woven into our new fabric collection – which is called Clout/SA Threads – are Thandazani Nofingxana, Spamandla Mdunyelwa, Lesego Maloko and Xolela Madlanga,” says Clout/SA Creative Director Tracy Lynch.
Cape Town-based Indigenus creates desirable designer planters that showcase botanical beauty. This year, Indigenus will officially launch their newest range, Petra, by New York–based artist Fernando Mastrangelo. Known for his conceptual design and sculptural works influenced by ecological issues, Mastrangelo brings a bold new perspective to the Indigenus collection. | decorex.co.za
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