Out of Africa

This fall, the Conran Shop will introduce an exclusive collection of home furnishings made in South Africa. The collection is a first for the London-based design store founded by Sir Terence Conran.“It’s a very diverse collection,” Conran’s creative director, Polly Dickens, said. “It is all contemporary and rooted in South Africa in some way, either in shape, color, or pattern reference.”Ms. Dickens put together the collection after a two-week buying trip that took her to 67 suppliers in Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town. “There is a fantastic community of artists in South Africa,” she said. “They’re realizing that they have this enormous resource, and they need to present themselves as a design center.”Pieces in the collection include a solid steel, contemporary take on a traditional colonial table made by Gregor Jenkin Design. The table comes in a flat, folded-up shape, but is not for traveling. “It weighs a ton!” Ms. Dickens said.A combination of game-skin leather and exotic hides cover several functional pieces such the Nguni ottoman, by Klooftique. Roche and Greg Dry, of the design firm Egg, are represented by the Locker, a bright-yellow cabinet evoking the industrial lockers in South African factories. The traditional British campaign chair inspired the designers at Melvill & Moon to create a new version made of canvas and leather with an exotic wood frame. Designer Nick Culverhouse also started with colonial style to create his Can chairs, which are made of a wooden frame covered in reed and are handmade by villagers from Blantyre and the shores of Lake Malawi. Prices for the items are still being determined.Many of the items that Ms. Dickens selected have not been exported out of South Africa before, which means that the artists will have to produce greater quantities than they’re accustomed to. “It’s a learning curve, as is the labeling, the shipping, and export. It’s a whole level of exposure that they’ve been waiting for and that they need,” Ms. Dickens said.Though that learning curve can sometimes mean delays and glitches, the Conran Shop is committed to bringing the region’s talent to a wider audience. “I don’t want this to be a flash in the pan,” Ms. Dickens said. “I want to establish a relationship with them. This is the first step to working more closely together.”The collection will be available in September at the Conran Shop, 407 E. 59th St., 212-755-9079.

Out of Africa

Out of Africa

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