Header: Courtesy of Decorex Africa
Decorex Joburg just came and went, having taken over five levels of the Sandton Convention Centre from July 30 to August 2. Organised by RX, the exhibitions arm of the RELX group, with Lexus and Santam as lifestyle partners, the event was a full experience on its own, running from a street food market two floors below ground to a design district rebuilt at the top of the building.
“The Soft Life”
Alan Hayward and Garreth van Niekerk, the event’s creative directors, chose “The Soft Life” as this year’s theme. This phrase was chosen for its meaning and African roots, having surged in Nigerian digital culture as an argument against hustle and constant intensity. Across the two shows Decorex stages each year, Cape Town in June and Johannesburg in July, more than 600 exhibitors gave their own reading of it.
In spatial terms, Hayward describes the theme as lighting that soothes you on entry and rooms that feel familial. Van Niekerk, on the other hand, frames it as a question of how you want to feel at home and whether that answer changes when the home is African.
“What we were really trying to do when we landed on ‘Soft Life’ as a theme was find something that could resonate across different African contexts, something that didn’t feel imported or imposed.”
Alan Hayward in conversation with the Mail & Guardian
100% Design Africa
100% Design Africa took the whole of Level 2, the part of the show given over to contemporary design from across the continent. The spotlight was “100% Local“, the annual survey of South African furniture, lighting and objects, which, this year, brought together Louw Roets, Stripped Collective, uMugqa Studio, Woodbender and Rialheim. The question put to visitors was: “What makes a piece feel local without flattening South African design into a single look?“
Alongside it, “100% Iconic” was given over to LRNCE, named Decorex Africa’s “Designer of the Year” for 2026. Laurence Leenaert founded the studio in Marrakech in 2013 and runs it alongside Ayoub Boualam, working with makers in and around the city in all kinds of crafts, such as ceramics, textiles, tiles, furniture and interiors. Their tapestries and hand-painted pieces filled the stand, made only better by a signature flavour they made with Paul’s ice cream cart.
“Ten x Ten” turned the focus to the single object, presenting 100 designs across ten categories that ran from tiles and basketry to glassware and pendants. Hayward, van Niekerk and a panel of category specialists made the selection. “FloodLight“, new this year, dealt with how a room is felt. Martin Döller, a spatial lighting designer, built an environment of shadow, glow and reflection around work by Mash.T, TheUrbanative, MOS Lighting, Joe Paine, Mema and LDA Lighting.
Emerging work was also presented on the same floor, with “100% Fresh” having brought students from Tshwane University of Technology together with Greenside Design Centre, which also showed Plotville, a project on new practice in Johannesburg and the neighbourhoods it grows out of. The five finalists of the Ventures Foundation programme, run with Sanlam Private Wealth, showed their completed prototypes for the first time.
“The Collector’s Room” by Russell Kaplan Auctioneers was found nearby, part exhibition and part shop, assembling furniture, art and objects from the past hundred years. Design Week Lagos took a stand of its own, put together by its founder, the interior designer and publisher Titi Ogufere. Winning work from this year’s AIDA Awards came in from architecture, interiors, product, lighting, fashion and visual design.
Exhibitions, stops and unique designs
On Level 5, five studios each built a micro-interior for the “Soft Life Design Pods“: Noom Custom Furniture, Samani Africa, Meraki Design and Décor, Misitu Showroom and Chivalry Design. “The Bedroom Project“, made with Tafelberg Furnishers and The Bed Centre, treated sleep as something design can improve.
“The Kitchen Project” on Level 0 was created by Cosentino, with taps and sinks from Franke, appliances from Hisense and a bespoke installation by Eljen Kitchens. On the same level, “The Sacred Pause” by Lifestyle Ceramics, with Kohler and Cocoon Lifestyle, built a bathroom from architectural ceramics, textured surfaces and immersive light. Two floors down, interior designer Tshepo Sealetsa turned a garage into the “Recharge Garage“, a room inspired by the electric Lexus RZ 550e F Sport.
Level 5 was also home to the “Kramerville District”, a pavilion that represented Johannesburg’s design precinct inside the show, portraying it as a run of shopfronts. “The Property Show” made its Decorex Joburg debut on the lower levels, with sessions on home finance, bond readiness, investment and renovation.
Conversations in Johannesburg
“Future Talks“, presented by the flooring company Oggie, ran five sessions a day on Level 2, each accredited for continuing professional development, with 2.0 CPD credits available across the series. Peter Rich gave a keynote called “The Spirit of Place” on architecture, landscape and the symbolic life of buildings. His Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre, built with local labour at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers, was named “World Building of the Year” at the World Architecture Festival in 2009.
Quintin Gilman, principal at ARRCC, spoke on how interior architecture now shapes the way people move through a house. Grid Worldwide’s Paul Hinch and Jineil Kandasamy sat down with the chef David Higgs to take apart the design thinking behind Marble, Saint, Zioux and Pantry. The closing session put Decorex featured artist Arminda da Silva alongside Catherine Mo of Condé Nast House & Garden, SAOTA principal Philippe Fouché and Canva Africa, on authorship and AI.
International partners
The international programme is the part of Decorex that outlasts the four days. Maison&Objet has made South Africa the spotlight country of its 2026 Rising Talent Awards, sending seven designers to Paris from 10 to 14 September: Meetlo Studio, Simphiwe Mlambo, Studio Lloyd, Deft Studios, Karlien van Rooyen, NISH by Tanisha Neill and Pinda Furniture Design. Selected local brands also gain access to MOM, the fair’s digital trade marketplace.
In April, Hayward and van Niekerk assembled a South African presentation at SaloneSatellite in Milan at the invitation of its founder, Marva Griffin, showing Zizipho Poswa, Andile Dyalvane and Thabisa Mjo for Mash.T Design Studio, Frances V.H Mohair, The Keiskamma Art Project, Studio Lloyd, Deft Studios and Ardmore. Decorex has also partnered with The Creative Hub by Cipro-Group in Luanda and Moz Cria Design Week in Mozambique.
“These partnerships are about building a two-way exchange. We’re bringing international perspectives into the show while creating real, structured pathways for African design and African talent to reach the world.”
Sian Cullingworth, Business Development Director at Decorex Africa
Decorex Joburg returns to the Sandton Convention Centre from 29 July to 1 August 2027.
