Happy birthday, Madiba

Happy, happy birthday to Nelson Mandela!

On this blog, we celebrate design, and if ever there was a well-designed human being, in every possible sense, its Mr Mandela, who is 90 years old today.

Here are lots and lots of cupcakes for Madiba, courtesy of Robert Kaufman's Sweet Tooth range of fabric prints.

Rubber lace

I think these lacey rubber table runners and placemats are pretty cute, pulling off an effective combination of delicate looks and hard-wearing practicality. I know they'd certainly get a lot more use around here than my handmade Belgian lace would (if I had any in the first place).

Available from Design My World.

Report from NYC: Mad Skillz

"Shroomalicious!!!" - Posted by Pete from da street

"Dude's got mad skillz" - Posted by Evan Chen

"Pop Art is crass commercialism... and vice versa. I'm either in Heaven or Hell." - Posted by Know Man

These are three recent comments on the Brooklyn Museum website about the exhibit by Takashi Murakami, which I managed to catch on the final day of its run last weekend. The retrospective show captured the Japanese artist's work in all its superflat, candy-coloured, eye-popping glory.

The technical skill involved in these intricate, gargantuan works is formidable. I spent a few minutes peering up close to ascertain whether they were screenprinted or handpainted - sometimes it was hard to tell.

For those who missed it, the Brooklyn Museum has some highlights online, including a timelapse video of the installation of Murakami's Tongari-kun (Mr. Pointy) in the museum’s Rubin Pavilion (see below).





The show was previously at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, which has a great collection of videos of the artist giving tours of the exhibition. The MOCA also has a special preview on YouTube of part one of Murakami's new kaikai & kiki animated film and a video interview with designer Marc Jacobs talking about his collaboration with Murakami for Louis Vuitton.

Speaking of which:


The exhibition included a gleaming, white-panelled Louis Vuitton store selling collector's-edition handbags and Murakami's new Monogramouflage range. It also featured a display of the merchandise that Murakami sells under his art production company, Kaikai Kiki LLC.


One thing I noticed looking at these museums' websites was just how much they are embracing the Web as an additional forum to share their collections with the public. The Brooklyn Museum has begun adding some of its archival photography to The Commons on Flickr, and is encouraging its visitors to upload and share their images to its Flickr group. In fact, thanks to ego technique, mayotic and flotsam/jetsam for all these lovely photos!

Store visit - DORP General Dealer

After 3 years of living in the platteland, Suzanne Boje returned to Cape Town, but felt there was something missing in the hustle and bustle of the city. Where could she find homemade gingerbeer and mosbeskuit like her grandma used to make? When she and longtime friend Dalene van den Berg spotted an open retail space in Roeland Street, they decided to bring the "platteland to the city", and opened DORP General Dealer.


Dorp is the Afrikaans word for "little town", but it's also a bit more accurately translated as a "one horse town", where there's one store that sells simply everything, and the tannie who runs it knows all your business too!

DORP aims to be as South African as possible, stocking homemade jams, preserves and fresh produce, all sourced from nearby towns like Montague, Wellington and Stanford. It also stocks a selection of basic grocery products like toothpaste, cleaning products and canned food, to service tenants from the surrounding apartments.

“In DORP you will find a little bit of everything”, says Suzanne. “From a ball and claw tv cabinet to apricot sweets to traditional Boereseep, renowned for its stain removal abilities."

So next time you're in Roeland Street, Cape Town, and feel like stepping into farm time, get yourself a koeksuster and a seat beside the lifesize farm scene on the back wall, and appreciate a bit of platteland hospitality, courtesy of DORP.

Luke Skystalker

Elle Decoration features editor Louise McCann wonders about people in high places keeping an eye on the earth.

Today's blog features two books about aerial perspectives on the world, so I thought I'd work with this trend and visit Google Earth , virtually venturing to one of my favourite places on the planet - the Molteno Reservoir below Table Mountain - just 5 minutes away from our office in Cape Town.

After my cyber-swooping, I turned to two beautiful books that show two photographers' very different perspectives on the planet. It’s quite a peaceful viewpoint in these tumultuous times!

Small Planet - Naoki Honjo
Japanese photographer Naoki Honjo’s book Small Planet shows his photographs of cities and natural scenery which are taken from high above, then miniaturized and manipulated until they look like miniature models of real-life scenes:

A pigeons-eye view of Trafalgar Square in London. © Naoki Honjo


Tokyo City, Japan. © Naoki Honjo.

Swimming Pool, Tokyo. © Naoki Honjo.

Containers, Tokyo. © Naoki Honjo.

Small Planet can be can be ordered through Photoeye.

Eyes Over Africa - Michael Poliza

The magnificent Eyes Over Africa shows aerial photographs by Michael Poliza, taken on an epic helicopter adventure from the north to the south of Africa.

Nile cruise ships, Luxor, Egypt. © Michael Poliza.

A Maasai market scene North-East of Maasai Mara, Kenya. © Michael Poliza.

Grassland plains in Northwest Katavi, Tanzania. © Michael Poliza.

Water meets land in Cabo Delgado, Mozamibique. © Michael Poliza.


Deserted flamingo nests in the red salty patches of the Pans, East of Kubu Island, Botswana. © Michael Poliza.

See more of these amazing images at the Eyes Over Africa website, and order the book through Exclusive Books or Amazon.

...and I think to myself, what a wonderful world that Big Brother is watching.

Little Hands

Little Hands is a Portuguese decor company owned by Leonor Feijó and Marta Belo, producing beautiful wallpaper murals for children.

The murals feature luscious landscapes filled with different characters - like pandas, piggies, bunnies, flamingos and mermaids - going about their rather interesting daily lives.

I love the unique and unconventional approach that seems to subtly rebel a little against traditional nursery decoration. It is bound to be adored by babies and children from all over.

For more information, design options and contact details, visit the Little Hands blog.

Reusable bags

Elle Deco reader, Nikki, mailed me a while ago to let me know about the great reusable shopping bags available at Reusablebags.com, so I thought I'd check it out.

This Australian-designed hemp bag from Envirosax is my favourite, I think, but I rather fancy their linen bag below too.

The Reisenthal series of shoppers is ultra-convenient, with a little fold-away bag to store it in.

Go shopping for the shopper you like best at Reusablebags.com.

Report From NYC: BROOKLYNrehab

I checked in to BROOKLYNrehab yesterday. No, I don’t have a drinking problem - more likely a shopping addiction. BROOKLYNrehab is Alyssa Zygmunt’s clever collection of vintage finds on sale on etsy.com. Alyssa is an industrial designer turned fashion designer who fuels her passion for quirky collecting by scouring vintage stores around Brooklyn and beyond.

These are some of her latest finds. Better check these out quickly because things have been selling fast lately.

This etched antelope glass is only five bucks. Yep, you heard right, $5.

These 50s salt and pepper cellars and pair of small plates are sold as a set and are in perfect condition.

"New York is full of secret spots containing lost treasures," says Alyssa. "You just have to be willing to look. Sometimes the trip is a bust and other times you find a stampede of wild horses captured in ceramic." These miniature horses, made of slip cast porcelain glazed in a glossy white, go perfectly with the gnome, above. And there are others in her porcelain menagerie.

Alyssa hunts for treasure at flea markets, library and school inventory sales, prop stores, and estate sales. She recommends Roulette on Havemeyer Street (see apartment therapy) and Ugly Luggage on Bedford Avenue (see New York magazine), both in Williamsburg. She often draws inspiration from the window displays at ABC Carpet and Home in Manhattan. Then she comes up with whimsical vignettes such as these, below.

Besides having an eagle eye for reusable cast-offs, Alyssa is adept at making her own pieces and is currently experimenting with ceramics. She originally made the porcelain gnome at the beginning of this post as table decorations for a friend's wedding. And now she has cast buttons made into rings and this magnificent mushroom, which can be used as a bud vase or a sculpture.

I liked its combination of delicacy and earthiness so much that I snapped one up immediately. Like any good addict, I will be checking her etsy pages often for new arrivals.

Jenni on the blog

All this week, our Elle Deco intern, Jenni le Grange is putting on her blogging shoes, tap-tap-tapping alongside posts from our NYC correspondent, Kelly Berman, and features editor, Louise McCann.

Take it away, gals!

Our very own

Heather Moore. Illustrator. Writer. Designer. And Elle Decoration blog editor.

Week after week, Heather inspires us by sharing her views on lifestyle, great finds and loads of South African design. Being the noble person that she is, you will never find her mentioning her own work on our blog, so it is about time that we turn the tables and share some of Heather's talents and works of art with you.

Heather owns her own label, Skinny laMinx, where she does anything from designing teatowels, cushions, aprons, decals, ceramics, and illustration.

Here are some of the items that I love from Heather's collection.

Apart from the beautiful design on this teatowel, I love the title of Borrowed Spoons. I think that her sense of subtly including an element of surprise combined with a beautiful design is what contributes to her success as an artist.


And about this teatowel called Tomato Eep , Heather says: "I've called it Eep!, because that's the noise I think these kinds of birds might make."

As previously mentioned, Heather is also a passionate illustrator. Here are examples of her exquisite pieces of art. The top piece is a screen print called Waiting and below is a detailed paper cut-out.

This to me, is the most special piece. It is a handmade quilt/duvet cover she made for her niece's third birthday, using pieces of scrap fabric.

She says it was easy to make (Note to self, tell Heather when my birthday is.)

There are a bundle more works of art and inspirational items where this came from, so be sure to visit Heather's blog and website.