6 Durban-based designers showcasing at House & Garden Show

Image credit: Katekani

Twenty-five Durban creatives will also be showcasing their work at a Discover Durban Design exhibition, curated by KZNSA Gallery's Angela Shaw and South African stylist Claire Clark. Sponsored by ECR House & Garden Show, there will be no cost to the invited exhibitors.

Titled Afro-Futura, the showcase will feature emerging and established KZN artists and designers who have created work in line with the theme. Local fashion and jewellery design will be displayed alongside furniture, ceramics and textiles as well as unique works of art.

Online marketplace Thola Africa shines a light on local artisans

26 Apr 2019

Here are six Durban-based designers set to showcase their individual styles at the Afro-Futura exhibition.

Umcebo Design

Using galvanised wire, glass beads, acrylic crystals, recycled and reclaimed materials, Umcebo Design makes handmade-to-order décor items inspired by flora and fauna. Robin Opperman started Umcebo Design while working as an art teacher at the Ningizimu School for the Severely Mentally Handicapped in the 1990s.

The idea of roping in community support for art and craft projects in all shapes and forms with a view to generating income and gaining exposure for the art programme became the seed idea for the Umcebo Trust. Umcebo Design continues to produce unique art and craft pieces and works closely with other craft-centred organisations in the Durban area.

Ruth Samaai Designs

After working in the Middle East, Ruth Samaai returned to South Africa and gained experience in the design industry, which included a stint as an intern for David Tlale. Thereafter, she started Ruth Samaai Designs – a female clothing brand.

While fashion design is still at the heart of the label, the brand has expanded into other areas that Samaai is passionate about. These include handmade accessories, illustration, stationery and homeware such as illustrated cushions.

Katekani

Katekani is a clothing brand started by Katekani Moreku, an emerging fashion designer from Bushbuckridge. Moreku’s design aesthetic is mostly inspired by the desire to be unconventional and reject conformity.

Composite Décor

What started as a hobby for Mervyn Dragsund has become a small business.

Based in Cowies Hill, 15km outside of Durban, Composite Décor makes décor from resin composite materials. Dragsund makes patterns, models and moulds of décor pieces in different shapes, textures and finishing techniques.

Africa Ignite

Early in 2012, Africa Ignite ran a beading workshop in the Umzinyathi District in KwaZulu-Natal.

The leader of the beadwork group, Bertinah Khumalo or Mma Khumalo, was embroidering a recycled mealie bag with bright stitches, which the brand took as inspiration for a cushion cover.

Mma Khumalo subsequently trained 20 other women to make the cushion covers, with each crafter adding her individual style to the products.

Recent additions to the Langazela range include a range of accessory bags and purses.

Creative Creations

Creative Creations specialises in clothing and textile design, clothing manufacture and supply. Sinenhlanhla Lombo started the brand in 2015 after studying fashion and textile at Durban University of Technology.

Creative Creations currently supplies the KZNSA art gallery with artistic unique clothing made from its own textiles. It also supplies the Anthology clothing boutique in Morningside, Durban.