Header: Courtesy of Decorex
Decorex Cape Town is a four-day design and décor fair that was held from the 25th to the 28th of June at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. More than 300 exhibitors took stands, among them furniture and lighting brands, kitchen and bathroom suppliers, tile makers and independent studios. Managed by RX, Decorex has been running in South Africa for more than thirty years.
“Soft Life”
This year’s show was built around the theme “Soft Life”, a phrase that started as a Nigerian TikTok trend and spread across the continent as shorthand for comfort, rest and living deliberately.
“We were drawn to the fact that the idea itself originated on the continent, from Nigeria, from a digital culture already questioning hustle culture and intensity.”
Alan Hayward
Alan Hayward and Garreth van Niekerk, the executive creative directors of Decorex Africa and 100% Design Africa, have said the choice was instinctive, having been born from the desire to find “something that could resonate across different African contexts“. The theme decided which brands were selected and how the features were built, with the focus put on how people gather, rest and work inside a room.
“What’s interesting about Soft Life is that it’s not a fixed concept, it’s almost quantum in the way that it shifts depending on who is engaging with it.”
Garreth van Niekerk
The features on show
One of the event’s features was “Ten x Ten”, which presented 100 objects across ten categories: fabrics, wallpapers, tiles, stools, lamps, pendants, ceramics, glassware, seating and craft. “100% Local” gathered South African furniture and product designers under the theme “Rituals”, while “100% Fresh” gave space to students, recent graduates and young studios showing their prototypes. The “Capitec Design MRKT” ran as a market of independent makers and design brands, and “FloodLight”, put together with Martin Döller, showed the work of South African lighting designers.
The “Recharge Garage”, presented by Lexus and designed by Tshepo Sealetsa, treated the garage as a room to arrive, pause and relax in. The “Soft Life Kitchen” by numu featured cabinetry systems from Blum and Salice, and the “Soft Life Design Pods” featured Styleast, Karoo Baba, Constantia Fabrics and Arcpop. Woolworths Home took a stand at Decorex for the first time, with an installation it called “Moments of Attention”.
The centrepiece of “100% Design Africa” started as an image on a phone. Arminda da Silva, a Johannesburg artist who works under the name ImagineThat, generated it in Midjourney. Craftspeople who build monumental works for AfrikaBurn then turned the file into a sculpture that visitors could walk around and touch.
Interesting talks and stylish restaurants
Away from the stands, “Future Talks” ran across all four days with more than forty speakers, all experts in the fields of architecture, materials, business and cultural exchange. These were hosted by Bathandwa Ngwendu and presented by Oggie.
The “Cooking Studio”, presented by @home, ran live demonstrations with Zola Nene and Lerato Maleswena, Discovery Bank Home Loans presented the “DIY Studio” and Clayheart Ceramics ran the “Clay Ceramics Studio” with hands-on clay workshops. Visitors ate at the “100% Restaurant” by Loredana Morton Interiors, the KLAY Bistro built with Zarah Riley, the Rialheim Café and the “Bubbly Bar” by Happinest.
The awards
Numu was this year’s recipient of the “Best Overall Stand” award, while “Designer of the Year” went to LRNCE, a studio by Belgian designer Laurence Leenaert that makes ceramics, textiles, and furniture with more than forty artisans in Morocco. Tshepo Sealetsa won the “Lexus Design Award“, and Woolworths took “Best Experiential Stand“.
The rest of the awards were given as follows:
- Thamsanqa Mfuphi Art won the “Capitec Rising Star Award”
- Sprung Outdoor Living won the “City of Cape Town Best Local Exhibitor Award”
- Tusk Studio won the “House & Leisure Editor’s Eye Award”
- Granny Goose won the “Decorex Soft Life Award”
- The Minimalist won the “Decorex 100% Fresh Award”
- Technogym won the “Decorex Best in Technology Award”
- Hutch won the “Decorex Best Furniture Stand Award”, with a special mention for Ten X TenRialheim won the “Decorex Product Design Award”
- COCOON SA won the “Decorex Sustainability Award”
- Nosso won the “Decorex Best Décor Stand Award”
- KLAY won the “Decorex Best Renovate & Build Award”, with a special mention for Kleur Space
- TopLiving won the “Decorex Best Kitchen Stand Award”
- Mosaico Vero won the “Decorex Best Bathroom Stand Award”
The visitors
Of the trade visitors who registered, 22% were interior designers or decorators and 18% were architects, with furniture manufacturers and retailers making about 10% each. Trade came from fifteen countries, among them Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Of those who registered as trade, 15% work for businesses turning over more than R100 million a year, and just under half said they were sourcing products for future projects.
Paris in September
A press conference held during the show announced the seven winners of the Rising Talent Awards South Africa 2026, the first time the Paris fair has run the programme with Decorex Africa. They will show their work in the Design District at Maison&Objet in Paris in September of this year. They are Ashleigh Lloyd of Studio Lloyd, Meetlo Studio, Simphiwe Mlambo, Tanisha Neill of N I S H, DEFT Studios, Siyanda Mbele of Pinda Interior Design and the ceramicist Karlien van Rooyen.
