We sent one of our new blog contributors - Robyn Sluis-Cremer - to visit 100% Design South Africa in Johannesburg. This is what she had to say about the event.
"The previous weekend has been a real treat for lovers of design. Or anyone with a soft spot for beautiful, covetable objects. Into its second year, 100% Design South Africa is a high-end curated exhibition that runs alongside Decorex Joburg.
We went along on Saturday and wiled away the morning experiencing the very best that our homegrown talents have to offer. Decorex Joburg is a rather large affair, and at first, we feared we’d be trapped in the never-ending security-fencing stalls, but finally slipped past the patio furniture and found the way to, what can only be described as, a living Pinterest board. We’re still a bit swoony just thinking about it.
Trying not to be waylaid by everything pretty, the first stop was our friends at Love Milo. We’ll be stocking a curated selection of their homeware products as well as their bag selection from end August under our new Design Store brand. The Cape Town-based boutique was showcasing their gorgeous ceramics, bag-worthy bags and divine fabrics. Their products make the perfect gifts for friends and family, and yourself – you deserve it. We had to restrain ourselves from not taking any their handbags or storage baskets home.
Next, we popped past Hoi P’loy’s beautifully glowing stand. The vintage lighting company was riding high on their win from the previous night. It’s no surprise that they took home the award for Best Lighting Design, a really well-deserved win! The mix of old-world lighting and modern fixtures is electric. (Excuse the pun…)
Our timing was just perfect so we were able to tag along on the tour of 100 Beautiful Things curated by Cathy O’Clery and in association with VISI. This feature represents a broad spectrum of our country’s creative expression – showcasing everything from handcrafts to high-end goods. Listening to Cathy speak so passionately about the people this exhibit represented was a real reminder of how important it is to invest in local designers. We were also very proud to see that one of the designers whose products we stock - David Krynauw and Skinny laMinx, was a part of this collection. Mother City Hardware also had two of their coveted steel lockers part of this exhibition - another new designer coming to the store under Design Store launching soon.
100% Design South Africa gave us a chance to ogle some other gorgeous brands and cool design. Dokter and Misses were flying the Joburg flag high with two award wins. Their awards looked perfectly at home amongst their modernist pieces, which would look perfectly at home, well anywhere, really. We lingered at so many of the exhibits: Brak Furniture and Saks Corner have slick mid-century furniture that sends you straight onto a Mad Men set, while Studio 19 and Egg Designs manage to make every piece lust-worthy. And we couldn’t forget Mia Mélange’s stunning handcrafted baskets or Meyer von Wielligh’s incredible workmanship.
100% Design South Africa was such an inspiration. There is so much talent out there and we’re lucky to get to experience the fruits of it."
Thank you for the feedback Robyn. Till next year!