Amastan Paris‘s latest partnership for its “Pop-In” store is called Merchants Aime Paris, and is run in collaboration with SA’s own Merchants on Long, bringing shoppers an exclusive pop-up installation showcasing the best in contemporary African art and design.

This space, which is dedicated to hosting pop-up installations, is adjacent to the Amastan Hotel and is the first flagship store from the new urban hotel brand, having opened in July this year. The collaborative installation Merchants Aime Paris launches on 2 September 2016 in Paris’s luxurious eighth arrondissement. It serves as a blank canvas and platform for artistic expression for artists and designers from around the globe. The brand philosophy focuses on curation and collaboration with artists that portray an eclectic set of talents with a focus on art, fashion, food, architecture and design.

The 20 square metre Pop-In store features art exhibitions, screenings, installations, window displays, launches and showrooms. Merchants Aime Paris will be a continuation of the successful Merchants pop-ups, transforming Amastan into a hub of African design, by hosting an array of events, talks and interesting performances.

Founder of Merchants on Long, Hanneli Rupert, will curate and showcase ethically sourced and produced designs from Africa, aiming to bring the best of what Africa has to offer to Paris for the duration of Merchants Aime Paris.

Hanneli will be showcasing her luxury handbag brand Okapi alongside work from designers including Frazer Parfum, Halsted, MaXhosa by Laduma, Laurence Airline, Henriette Botha and more. The pop-up installation runs until 6 October 2016.

The post Cool Collaboration: Amastan Paris X Merchants On Long appeared first on Visi.

Define luxury in the 21st century.

True luxury is not about mass production; it’s about handmade, bespoke design. That’s why Okapi is about helping customers to customise their own handbag.

Why does Africa show promise in this sector?

In certain markets, what African brands are doing is more covetable than the established luxury labels because we are offering a once-off product of genuine artisanal design. Plus our quality can be compared to that of covetable Italian design houses.

What luxury brands do you lust after?

I see art as a new kind of luxury and really covet a piece by Nandipha Mntambo. Locally Tammy Frazer perfumes give me a traditional feeling of luxury. Globally, I am a big fan of designers who merge interesting influences. Celistina bags, for example, are exquisite clutches made using shells from the Philippines.

36 Long Street, 021 422 2828, okapi.com

Hannelie has just launched her new venture, Merchants Café. We are giving away a bottle of Merchants Café wine and a unique Michael Chandler plate to four VISI readers. To enter, sign up to VISI’s weekly newsletter by midnight on Thursday 8 November. Four winners will be drawn from the newsletter subscriber database using random.org.

The post Crafting luxury appeared first on Visi.

Read in English.

Merchants on Long het pas die restaurant Merchants Café geopen waarmee hulle Kaapstad deur middel van verskeie “pop up”-restaurante aan die geure van Afrika wil bekend stel. Die ontwerpers Liam Mooney en Michael Chandler het aan Maciek Dubla verduidelik hoe hulle met badkamerteëls, spaanderbord en 16 000 feeliggies ’n uiters veelsydige ruimte geskep het.

Niemand weet hoekom die Merchants on Long-gebou, een van die oudstes in die Moederstad, oorspronklik in die laat 1800’s gebou is nie. En al het die eienaars deur die jare gekom en gegaan, is die gebou sedert 2010 bekend as ’n tuiste vir kontemporêre Afrika-ontwerp. Nou is die geskiedenisboeke nóg ’n bladsy ryker met die opening van die nuwe Merchants Café in ’n ewe geskiedkundige gebou oorkant die straat.

“Die restaurant is ’n saamwerkprojek tussen ’n paar van die beste skeppende kunstenaars in Kaapstad; ’n plek waar sjefs en ontwerpers besoekers aan hulle styl kan bekend stel,” verduidelik Hanneli Rupert, die grand dame van Merchants on Long. “Dit is egte Afrika-ontwerp, maar ook weelderig, kontemporêr en bowenal eenvoudig sodat ‘pop up’-restaurante maklik hulle intrek kan neem en die ruimte hulle eie maak.”

As jy eers oor die drumpel tree, verstaan jy dadelik waarom die gedetailleerde interieur wat ses maande geneem het om te voltooi, ’n ontwerp(er)-samewerking is in letterlik elke sin van die woord. Die beste skeppende kunstenaars waarna Hanneli verwys, is die ontwerper Liam Mooney en die dekoratiewe kunstenaar Michael Chandler. Liam was verantwoordelik vir die interieur van die ruimte, terwyl Michael die breekware wat besoekers sal gebruik om aan Merchants Café se Afrika-cuisine weg te lê, ontwerp en met die hand gemaak het.

“Hanneli wou ’n baie veelsydige, eenvoudige ruimte hê wat maklik verander kan word volgens die ‘pop up’-restaurant wat daardie week sy intrek neem,” verduidelik Liam die opdrag an hom. “Dit moes die etos van die Merchants-handelsmerk weerspieël en ’n Afrika-gevoel hê, sonder om kitsch of soos ’n temarestaurant te voel. Die ruimte moes gesofistikeerd dog gemaklik wees.”

Omdat hulle die geskiedenis van die gebou wou behou maar terselfdertyd ’n jeugdige energie vestig, is die mure ’n kombinasie van ou stene en klip, met sekere dele wat met mat en blink wit badkamerteëls geteël is. ’n Mens is eers van die sterk kontras bewus, maar dit word gou duidelik hoe goed die teëls die rou teksture van die muur komplementeer.

Die meubels is ’n mengsel van duur en meer bekostigbare ontwerp. Die sessitplek-tafels van poeierverfbedekte staal, spaanderbord met lakvernis en ’n ligte weefmateriaalstof lyk of dit bra min detail bevat, maar dit slaag daarin om die ruimte te versag. Die visuele impak van die 16 000 feeliggies wat die plafon bedek en in die brons spieëls weerkante van die vertrek weerkaats word, slaan die asem weg.

Hoewel die meubels doelbewus teen die agtergrond verdwyn, staan Michael se reeks handgemaakte blou-en-wit ontwerper-keramiekware lieflik uit teen die eenvoud van die spaanderbord.  Hy het meer as 300 houers, vase, opdienborde, grootborde, bakke, bekers, kruike, teepotte en sout-en-peperbakkies versier, en elkeen spog met Merchants Café se aweregse kenteken wat met die hand geverf is. Dit beteken nie ’n enkele een van die stukke is dieselfde nie.

Toe Michael hoor van die duisende feeliggies, het hy besluit om die breekgoed met ’n superglans-afwerking af te rond om die liggies te weerkaats en te sorg dat dit lyk of die kos “rus op ’n glinsterende see van skittersterre”.

Die estetiese is een ding, maar uiteindelik is die praktiese elemente net so belangrik as die versierings en ontwerp. “Die belangrikste ding wat ek moes onthou, is dat al die keramiekware funksioneel moet wees en die aanhoudende hantering in ’n restaurant kan weerstaan,” erken Michael, ’n ware esteet. “Ons het ’n materiaal gebruik wat teen ’n hoër temperatuur gebak word om te verseker die stukke is so sterk as moontlik. Om die ‘harde aard’ van keramiek te versag, het ons ’n mat glasuur vir die die buitekant van die eetgerei gebruik. Dit voel syagtig as jy daaraan raak, amper soos ’n volstruiseier. Ek wou hê mense moet die restaurant verlaat en voel hulle het ’n spesiale oomblik met die kos en die keramiekware gedeel.”

Michael het ook Merchants Café se wynetiket ontwerp. Die Ruperts se rooi versnit word as die restaurant se unieke huiswyn gebruik, en die etiket is geïnspireer deur ’n 17de eeuse etswerk wat Michael in ’n antieke boek gevind het.

Liam en Michael het saam ’n ruimte geskep wat ewe perfek is vir ’n vinnige koffie of om tot ounag toe oor aandete uite span. Merchants Café sit die visie van Merchants on Long voort as ondersteuner en patriot van Afrika. As ’n mens kyk na die verstommende talent in Kaapstad, kan VISI nie wag om te sien waarmee Afrika se smulpape en skeppende siele ons gaan verras nie.

Langstraat 36, 021 422 2828, www.merchantsonlong.com

Die vier wenners van die Merchants Cafe bottel wyn en unieke Michael Chandler-bord is The Nelda van Staten, Jacques Nel, Jayshree Govender en John Maarschalk. Baie geluk!

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Lees in Afrikaans.

Merchants on Long have opened Merchants Café, a restaurant that intends to bring African flavours to Cape Town through a series of Café designed for pop-ups restaurants. Designers Liam Mooney and Michael Chandler chat to Maciek Dubla about creating a versatile space using bathroom tiles, chipboards and 16 000 fairy lights.

First built in the late 1800s for reasons unknown and passing through many hands to eventually become a purveyor of contemporary African design in 2010, the Merchants On Long building’s history can hold its own among some of the oldest establishments in Cape Town. Now, adding another page to the history books, is the new Merchants Café in the equally historic building across the road.

“The Café is a collaboration between some of the top creative minds in Cape Town; a place for African chefs and designers to showcase their styles,” Hanneli Rupert, the grand dame of Merchants on Long explains. “The design is upscale, contemporary and African, but it is also simple so when pop-up restaurants come in they can restyle the space to make it feel like their own.”

Step inside and you quickly see that the detailed interiors of this pop-up eatery are a collaboration of design in every sense of the phrase; a six-month journey in the making, in fact. The top creative minds Hanneli is referring to are designer Liam Mooney and decorative artist Michael Chandler. Liam was tasked with crafting the look for the interiors of the space while Michael moulded and designed, by hand, the crockery off which the patrons of Merchants Café will find themselves indulging in its African cuisine.

“Hanneli wanted a very versatile, simple space that could be transformed easily according to the tastes of the restaurants taking it for the week of the pop-up,” Liam says of the brief. “It needed to speak to the ethos of the Merchants brand and had to have an African feel without being themed or kitschy. The space had to be sophisticated but comfortable.”

Wanting to incorporate the history of the building and still creating a youthful energy in the café, the walls are a combination of exposed brick and stone with certain sections tiled using matt and gloss white bathroom tiles. The first impression is of stark contrast, but the way the tiles compliment the raw textures of the walls soon becomes apparent.

The furniture is a mix of expensive with the inexpensive. Although seemingly under-detailed, the simple six-seat tables made of powder-coated mild steel, lacquered chipboard and a lightly woven fabric soften the space. The visual impact of the 16 000 fairy-lights that cover the ceiling reflecting in bronzed mirrors on either side of the room is arresting.

Merchants Cafe from Merchants on Long on Vimeo.

While the furniture intentionally fades into the background, Michael’s handmade and designed range of blue-and-white ceramic goods stands out against the simplicity of the chipboard. He decorated over 300 hot beverage containers, vases, platters, plates, dishes, bowls, jugs, pitchers, teapots and salt-and-pepper bowls, each carrying a whimsical and hand-painted insignia of Merchants Café. In other words, no two are alike.

On hearing about the thousands of lights, Michael finished the dishes with a super gloss so as to reflect the lights and meaning that the food looks like “it’s resting on a glimmering sea of twinkling stars”.

Of course, aesthetics is one thing, but practicality is as important as the finished decoration and design. “The most important thing that I had to remember when doing this commission was that all the ceramics had to be functional and be able to withstand the abuse that ceramics undergo in a restaurant,” the aesthete admits. “We used a material that was fired at a higher temperature to ensure maximum strength. To soften the hard nature of ceramics, we glazed the outsides of the dinnerware in a matt glaze. This feels silky to the touch, like an ostrich egg. I wanted people to walk away feeling special about the moment they had with the ceramics and the food.”

Michael also designed the wine label for the Café. The Rupert’s red blend is served as the venue’s unique house wine and the label is inspired by a 17th-century etching that Michael found in an ancient tome.

Together, Liam and Michael have created a space that lends itself as much to a quick lunchtime coffee as it does to a lingering late night dinner. Merchants Café continues the vision of Merchants on Long as a supporter and patriot of Africa and, if the calibre of talent in Cape Town is anything to go by, VISI can’t wait to see what Africa’s foodies and creatives have in store for us!

36 Long Street, 021 422 2828, www.merchantsonlong.com

The four winners of the competition to win a Merchants Cafe bottle of wine and unique Michael Chandler plate are: Nelda van Staten, Jacques Nel, Jayshree Govender and John Maarschalk. Congratulations!

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