Field Office
Shop
37 Barrack Street, City Centre (021 461 4599/www.fieldoffice.co.za). Open 7am-4pm Mon-Fri; 9am-1pm Sat. Credit MC, V. P32 Field Office is a showroom for Pedersen + Lennard furniture, produced in Cape Town using handand machine-made elements. The designers Luke Pedersen and James Lennard mix the eclectic influences of South African craft and the clean aesthetic of their Scandinavian forefathers. The original results are minimal and industrial with occasional flourishes, for example the lights resembling metal buckets. Field Office also aims to be an inspiring space for designers, with a café offering artisan coffee, sandwiches, cakes and free wi-fi.
Imagenius
117 Long Street, City Centre (021 423 7870/www.imagenius. co.za). Open 9.30am-4.30pm MonFri; 9.30am-1.30pm Sat. Credit AmEx, MC, V. P11
One of Long Street’s quirkiest shops, the boldly named Imagenius is indeed an inspired enterprise. This eclectic collection of frivolous favourites includes jewellery, paintings, mini mirror balls, plastic ants and Imagenius matchboxes of baby cotton clothing. There are candles shaped like bunny rabbits, babies, the Virgin Mary and Lenin – just a few of the shop’s strikingly original items. The fun spreads across three levels and 70% of the stock is locally made. Impossible not to shop like mad here.
Karoo Classics
Shop 2, Market House, Shortmarket Street, City Centre (021 422 3813/www.karooclassics. co.za). Open 10am-5pm Mon-Fri; 10am-2pm Sat. Credit AmEx, MC, V. P11 Producing products from Oudtshoorn’s famous, feathered residents, Karoo Classics offers ostrich leather items including handbags and wallets. More generally, the
shop focuses on South African natural fibre products, notably a wide selection of mohair items from blankets to shawls. The shelves and draws are brimming with colours, with scarves thrown across chairs and artworks on the walls, creating a bright and inspiring shopping experience. Goods are sourced from small South African workshops, ensuring genuine handmade quality.
Merchants on Long
34 Long Street, City Centre (021 422 2828/www.merchantsonlong. com). Open 10am-6pm Mon-Fri; 10am-2pm Sat. Credit MC, V. P12 This African salon specialises in the continent’s best contemporary design, stocking homeware, art and fashion. With an emphasis on job creation, small-business development and uplifting local communities, the shop showcases Africa’s manufacturing and design skills. The restored 19th-century building is a wonderful place to browse, with goods from printed fabrics and clothing to functional art. Africa’s coolest brands are here, including Merchants on Long owner Hanneli Rupert’s Okapi handbags; even the organic coffee in the café is African.
Markets African Women’s Craft Market
112 Long Street, City Centre (021 422 3587/www. africanwomenscraftmarket.co.za). Open 9am-8pm daily. No credit cards. P11 This authentic African craft market fits more than 50 traders and artisans under one roof. It offers a taste of Africa north of the Limpopo through its atmosphere as much as the crafts on display. Everywhere you look there are bundles of bracelets, lines of drums, piles of bags, walls of chunky necklaces, and eye-catching pendants. Marketers chat in French and the smell of leather rises from slippers and wallets.
Church Street Antique Market
30 Time Out Best of Cape Town Central City 2012
jurie senekal
Greenmarket Square.
Church Street, City Centre. Open 9am-2pm Mon-Sat. No credit cards. P11 Like an alfresco outpouring from the nearby Long Street Antique Arcade, this morning market fills Church Street with stalls. The occasional antique or vintage dress crops up, but most vendors lean towards silverware, crockery and trinkets. The journey is more im-