100% Design Africa Returns to Johannesburg With Its Boldest Edition Yet
African design is no longer asking for permission to be seen. It is confidently shaping the global conversation.
From 30 July to 2 August 2026, 100% Design Africa returns to Decorex Joburg with an entire floor dedicated to the designers, makers, and creative thinkers redefining contemporary African design. Hosted at the Sandton Convention Centre, this year’s edition promises more than an exhibition; it offers an immersive journey through the people, objects, and ideas shaping the continent’s creative future.
For more than two decades, 100% Design Africa has served as one of the continent’s leading platforms for design innovation. This year, the exhibition expands its ambition through curated installations, cultural experiences, and thought-provoking conversations that position African creativity as both globally relevant and deeply rooted in local identity.
A New Generation Meets Design Icons
Visitors can expect a carefully curated mix of established brands and emerging talent. Renowned studios including Vetsak, African Jacquard, Iron Bannister, and Dwela will exhibit alongside The Collector’s Room by Russell Kaplan Auctioneers, an exhibition exploring how furniture, art, and collectible objects acquire cultural significance over time.
The event also shines a spotlight on the future of African design. Emerging names such as Meetlo Studios and Klay will showcase their work, while finalists from the Ventures Foundation by Sanlam Private Wealth programme will unveil completed prototypes. The ever-popular 100% Fresh platform returns, providing students and young designers with an opportunity to experiment, innovate, and challenge conventional thinking. This year’s theme, The Soft Life, sees students from Tshwane University of Technology and Greenside Design Centre reimagining contemporary living through fresh creative perspectives.
Redefining What Local Means
One of the exhibition’s highlights is 100% Local, an annual showcase celebrating South African furniture, lighting, ceramics, and material innovation.
Featuring designers including Louw Roets, Stripped Collective, uMugqa Studio, Woodbender, and Rialheim, the installation explores a timely question: what truly makes a design South African? Rather than relying on familiar visual tropes, the exhibition presents local identity as something constantly evolving through craftsmanship, culture, and innovation.
Celebrating Design as Art
This year’s 100% Iconic honours LRNCE, Decorex Africa’s Designer of the Year.
Founded in Marrakech by Belgian designer Laurence Leenaert and Moroccan creative Ayoub Boualam, the studio has become internationally recognised for its hand-painted ceramics, textiles, furniture, and interiors. Their work exemplifies the power of craftsmanship, storytelling, and collaboration with local artisans, reinforcing Africa’s growing influence within global luxury design.
More Than Interiors
One of the exhibition’s strongest messages is that design extends far beyond furniture.
The new FloodLight installation, developed with lighting designer Martin Döller, demonstrates how lighting transforms emotion, atmosphere, and spatial experience through work by leading South African studios including Mash.T, TheUrbanative, MOS Lighting, Joe Paine, Dark, and Luminaire d’Afrique.
Food and hospitality also become part of the design narrative. The Good Table offers an immersive restaurant experience where interiors, flavour, and materiality are equally important, while The Social Library reimagines the exhibition bar as a cultural destination inspired by global culinary traditions.
Africa in Conversation
Beyond South Africa, 100% Design Africa creates space for continental collaboration.
Design Week Lagos brings new perspectives from one of Africa’s fastest-growing creative capitals, while winning projects from this year’s AIDA Awards showcase excellence across architecture, fashion, interiors, product, and visual design. Together, these exhibitions reinforce the idea that African creativity thrives through collaboration rather than competition.
The exhibition is complemented by Future Talks, a programme of keynote sessions and panel discussions featuring designers, educators, makers, and curators exploring the future of African design. The conversations invite professionals and enthusiasts alike to engage with the ideas shaping tomorrow’s creative industries.
Why It Matters
At a time when African design is gaining unprecedented global recognition, 100% Design Africa reminds us that great design is not only about aesthetics. It is about identity, memory, community, and the way we choose to live.
From collectible furniture and handcrafted ceramics to experimental lighting and culinary experiences, this year’s exhibition positions African creativity where it belongs: at the centre of the world’s design conversation.
For anyone passionate about interiors, architecture, craftsmanship, or contemporary culture, 100% Design Africa is more than an event. It is a glimpse into the future of African design.
