South Africa; no longer lagging behind, in the design field. By Dave Nemeth

The more I travel the more evident it becomes just how the trend and design gap between South Africa and the international markets are closing. Just a few years ago we were at least two years behind on the fashion front and up to five years behind on design, decor and furniture. There are a multitude of reasons for this sudden "catch up" with the biggest being the globalisation we are currently experiencing thanks to the boom in technology and social media. All of a sudden we know exactly what is happening globally as it unfolds and ultimately takes shape. This is more far reaching than just important news, with more and more consumers keeping abreast of international brands and trends. It is important to understand that markets are driven by consumers and even though we have world class designers and architects’, being up to date and forward thinking is not always accepted by clients and consumers.

The majority of the famous international brands in decor, fabrics and furniture are now represented here in SA, and we no longer have to purely rely on the Chinese imitations and fakes that once flooded our markets. Rest assured that the brands that are not yet here are busy trying to get their foot into the door (And eventually make their way into the rest of emerging Africa too). These brands include everything from furniture, both indoors and outdoors to designer canopies, wall cladding and even specialised display and gallery fixtures. The availability of these brands as well as the exposure they have received has in actual fact created even more of an opportunity for local creative’s to be bolder and braver than they ever were in the past. This is due to an increased understanding and appreciation of design coming from consumers.

With us starting to realise that we need to support local design and manufacture, and understanding the benefits this has on our economy, we are seeing a lot of world class design happening as well as the products actually being manufactured on SA soil. A great example of this is the large variety of indoor / outdoor planters which have amazing built in lighting systems, making these have both a functional as well as aesthetic appeal. These planters designed by a leading South African product designer Brian Steinhobel are manufactured in Cape Town using a special polyethylene. This is an extremely Hi Tech process and this has been achieved locally at a lower cost that what they can achieve in European countries. These planters are resilient to all weather conditions, due to this advanced material. This is just one example of the kind of manufacture springing up around us.

It is however not just with products that our design is evolving but also with our interior design and architecture. We are seeing a host of interesting buildings taking shape with the key focus on the environment as well as sustainability. City centre’s such as Johannesburg, Cape Town and even P.E have very exciting rejuvenation projects happening which are creating exciting nodes for entertainment and business. It is also refreshing to see that what we are doing here in South Africa is not simply replicating what is being done globally, but rather (in many instances) creating our own signature and look and feel.