This week exciting new plans were unveiled for Decorex Cape Town 2021 with organisers, Reed Exhibitions, revealing that the annual event had been agilely re-strategised, with the entire month of June pegged for an unprecedented Design Takeover.
The month long festivities are geared towards stimulating the industry and bringing South Africa’s Creative Capital to vibrant life once again.
As many would know, Cape Town – a world class city renowned for its fine dining restaurants – is the first city in Africa to be named a UNESCO City of Design and design fanatics in the Mother City can look forward to wide range of eye catching programme starting with the Cape Town Design Trail, followed by a series of professional industry talks and networking events.
A variety of innovative online platforms, within the Decorex Africa Online programme, will contribute to the lifeblood of the city and its design community and benefit its global stature.
The Cape Town Design Trail
The Cape Town Design Trail will include product launches, visits to concept stores, staged window displays, private art viewings, meet-and-greet sessions with designers, and exclusive networking functions and trend talks.
The new trail gives participants one-on-one access to incredible showrooms and private maker spaces while flying the design banner for the industry and involving the city as a whole.
Dedicated routes and maps will guide visitors through the carefully curated series of open studios that constitute the city’s brightest.
Designers, architects, decorators, artists and the hospitality sector will showcase spaces that bring creativity to the city. Confirmed stopping points along the trail include award-winning furniture design house Haldane Martin, art powerhouse The Norval Foundation, globally renowned ceramic studio Imiso, vibrant eatery Egg, incredible designer boutique hotels Gorgeous George and The Silo hotel by the Royal Portfolio, and scores of others.
The stimulating event extends over four weekends to help visitors discover exhibitions and installations located at 200 incredible participating sites. There will be 30 full days for meetings within the framework of an expanded programme of cocktail parties, open days, workshops, private tours and roundtables.
Networking Functions & Talks
In keeping with Decorex Africa’s longstanding and ongoing commitment to bring the design community together, various showrooms will host exclusive networking functions during The Cape Town Design Trail timeframe.
These functions are aimed at architects, interior designers, specifiers, hospitality buyers, corporate procurement, landscapers, online retailers, product designers, property developers, building contractors and members of the media.
The functions will encompass the latest product launches as well as Trend Talks presented by speakers such as Decorex Africa’s Creative Director, Anita Bloom. All key industry players will be invited to connect, learn and keep the design industry moving forward.
Decorex Africa Online
Decorex Africa Online is a series of online resources, programmes and events from a host of Decorex Africa exhibitors and partners. This online offering is designed to virtually connect the design, décor, hospitality and retail community.
The Decorex Digital Design Magazine
With Decorex Africa being at the forefront of international trends, the portfolio team is constantly researching the latest in the design sector and sharing an array of great content – from blogs to industry articles – with the design world.
The content, which will include all the important information on major industry news and launch products, will be accessible through The Decorex Digital Design Magazine.
Trade-only Virtual Platform
Decorex Africa has a national footprint and international audience base. Its annual events and activations, which are located in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg, are a beacon for local trade, African trade guests and global buyers.
Following Decorex Cape Town’s Design Takeover, and set to go live online in August 2021, the innovative Trade-only Virtual Experience will provide exhibitors and members of the trade with a unique online opportunity to engage and conduct “business as unusual”.
The platform is engineered to sit alongside a real-time exhibition – details of the latter will only be announced later in the year.
Decorex e-Commerce
Decorex Africa is launching a fully-enabled e-commerce site where exhibitors will be able to sell their products and reach new audiences. The platform is perfect for seasonal campaigns and pre-event specials.
Says Decorex Africa’s portfolio head, Sian Cullingworth: “Decorex Africa, comprising Decorex and 100% Design South Africa, have brought the design community together every year since inception. It remains important for all of us in the industry to combine and conduct our businesses, share ideas, learn from each other, support the greater community and celebrate when and where possible.”
*For future updates on upcoming Decorex Africa events, and exclusive product launches in South Africa, make sure to visit NOWinSA/Events page regularly!
