International committee blog january 2014: africa's impact on british interior design

This month, on behalf of the International Committee, I thought I’d talk about how Africa is impacting on interior design in the UK.  “London is alive with African culture and new designers creating homeware in vibrant colours and patterns”, says Kate Burnett of the Evening Standard. Call me biased, but having been born and brought up in Zimbabwe, I instinctively keep my eyes peeled for African design, and it is becoming increasingly visible.

During the London Design Festival 2013 Habitat ran an exhibition in their Platform space on King’s Road unveiling a collaboration called Graphic Africa. This exhibition showcased important contemporary work by 16 leading designers from 10 countries in East, West and Southern Africa.

These 16 designers form the Design Network Africa (DNA), which supplies Southern African design to the leading retailers around the world.  Thanks to a combination of Western skills and ideas with African materials, patterns and techniques, we are seeing products with the vibrant colours and strong graphics we associate with Africa. These designers are creating a new definition for African design that is much more widely available and ties in perfectly with current trends in Western fashion and interiors.

With Cape Town being declared as World Design Capital for 2014, the continent of Africa is now sitting very firmly on the international design landscape. Cape Town’s style is big, bold and spectacular, offering gorgeous designs at dream prices.

If you’re thinking of taking in some of what Cape Town has to offer in 2014,  keep an eye on the World Design Capital – Cape Town 2014 website http://www.wdccapetown2014.com/home/