The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) estimated international trade in cultural goods and services at $387bn in 1998, according to the trade and industry department’s (DTI’s) 2007 Craft Sector Development Strategy document.
Many creative industry sub-sectors are expanding by at least three times the average economic growth rate. In 1998 the five largest exporters of cultural goods and services were Japan, US, Germany, UK and China.
Although the trade and industry department says local creative industry export figures are difficult to ascertain, the craft subsector alone is estimated to contribute about R2bn to gross domestic product (0,14%) and provide jobs and income for over 38 000 people through at least 7000 micro and small enterprises. Crafts could contribute R5bn to GDP and 20000 more jobs by 2015 if supported by more targeted interventions.
A sampling of the South African winners of the 2007 Elle Decoration International Design Awards (Edida) revealed numerous export success stories: the South African Designer of the Year, Tonic Design Studio in Johannesburg, supplies furniture to designers and retailers in Europe, the US and Africa as well as handling numerous large-sale projects locally and abroad, plus retail and restaurant design.
TeamTwo co-director Sian Eliot, whose company won the 2006 and 2007 Edida lighting awards, says their Faraway Tree design has been ordered en masse by the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, with enquiries by interior decorators from Stockholm to Bombay. There has been huge Far East interest after their products were showcased in an international Hong Kong catalogue following the 2006 Edida award. TeamTwo has also exported products via the upscale Amaridian Gallery in New York, British lighting outlet Cameron Peters, and Spanish distributor Swalaline, which specialises in distributing Southern African pieces to Europe.
Helon Melon, which won the bedding category for metallic embroidered linen, has supplied Selfridges in the UK and sells to boutique stores from Kuwait to the USA. Foreign customers — mainly Germans — e-mail founder Helen Gibbs every year to order their linen for collection in Cape Town on their annual holiday. After years of selling small quantities to foreign outlets, she hopes to open a fully representative franchise outlet later this year in Guildford, England, that will stock all her designs generated over the past 13 years.
The fabric sector winner, Afro, has products like scatter cushions and tote bags selling from Cape Town to Salzburg. Heath Nash, who won the flooring section for his mats made from recycled cooldrink bottle tops, showed at London Design Week and supplies numerous global outlets like Isandi in Norway.
Seating prizewinners Greg and Roche Dry report strong export sales for their hanging swing seat, inspired by a trip to the park with their daughter. The swings and the rest of their product range — from furniture to lamps — are selling briskly in the US and elsewhere, following coverage in international magazines like Surface, favourable blog mentions and exposure at Amaridian Gallery in New York.
Tableware and accessories winner Frauke Stegmann focuses on small, custom-designed contracts and her work will shortly be included in a new book showcasing the World’s Top Young Designers. Her products have been exposed to overseas buyers through several channels: New Africa in Denmark, Anthropologie in New York, Super Design Market and Handled with Care at 100% Design London and 100% Designers at 100% Design Tokyo.
Maira Koutsoudakis of Life Interiors+Architecture+Design tends to design pieces for her luxury ecoresort and boutique hospitality projects and then they become part of her stable of products. Many are exported to Paris, London, Tokyo and Berlin and also to the Seychelles, where she has a resort store. Her Wodaabe vessels and Pod lights, both former Edida winners, are not only popular in SA but also Europe and the USA. The Himbasin that won her the 2007 Edida bathroom award, with its shallow, water-efficient dune-like shape in solid hand-beaten copper, was conceptualised for her latest project, Serra Cafema, an eco-friendly luxury lodge in the Namibian desert.
Tattoo, launched only last year at Decorex by set designers and builders in the film industry, Claire Letoret and Tracey Collis, reports plenty of overseas enquiries about the anthropomorphic Luigi multi-purpose storage unit that snapped up the Edida kitchen prize. While no export deals have yet been concluded, queries have come from Australia, the US, France and Dubai.
Elle Decoration editor Karen Roos, who headed up the South African Edida judging panel, said: “It’s outdated to view SA as a mere commodity exporter. There’s huge interest in our innovative and functional designs from Amsterdam to New York. All the 2007 winners’ products are well produced, of high quality, with global appeal.”
Deputy editor Lauren Shantal adds that past local winners have gained substantially in terms of both public recognition and material success. “Take for example a past winner in the ceramics category, Andile Dyalvane. He has gone from being an unknown independent to owning his own gallery in Cape Town, with several employees. Andile exports steadily to Amaridian in New York, and credits Elle Decoration as part of his recipe for success.”
The local winners in the South African leg of the Edida 2007 will compete with designers from 22 other countries for the opportunity to strut their stuff at the 48th Milan Furniture Fair in April.