OUR PROJECTS
Clout/SA has facilitated many successful partnerships across the industry, delivering strong results both commercially and from a brand perspective. We bring two particular areas of strength to our projects.
Firstly, through long-standing relationships with designers, we have a deep understanding of the language and process of the creative. We recognise creative thinking as the driving force of each project and know how to support it in a way that also meets commercial requirements.
We understand what’s needed to take ideas into production, including the realities and challenges of working with South African crafters and makers. We know how to navigate this terrain in a way that works for all involved and delivers meaningful outcomes for creatives and clients.
Union House, Cape Town
Clout/SA was commissioned to design an office space for a prominent South African leadership team, alongside a team of art curators and collection administrators. The space needed to support a range of meeting and collaboration styles within a shared working environment.
Located at Union House, home to the Spier Arts Trust, the brief was to showcase South African creativity through the integration of art and design-led furniture and lighting, all designed and made locally. A variety of meeting spaces were incorporated to support the teams’ day-to-day requirements.
The result is a bold and inspiring expression of South African design. A central meeting pod is upholstered in a digitally printed fabric, created from a scan of an original mosaic artwork within the building. This approach not only creates a distinctive visual language, but also enables the artist to earn a licensing fee through its application.
The space also includes examples of Clout/SA’s pattern licensing initiative, which enables emerging designers to translate culturally rooted narratives into interior products, generating ongoing income through the sale of fabrics, accessories, and related applications.
Together, these elements reflect a distinctly South African design aesthetic — one that draws on craft, identity, and community to create human-centred, socially responsive furniture, lighting, and interior surfaces.
Issac Shongwe Room, Johannesburg
Clout/SA was engaged to design a flexible and inspiring conferencing space for leadership teams. The brief was to showcase South African creativity through a curated collection of art, craft, and locally designed finishes, furniture, and lighting.
The space is easily reconfigured for different meeting formats, with a catering area that can be concealed when in use. The design reflects South African heritage and highlights collaborations with designers, artists, and crafters.
The result is a bold showcase of local design, expressed through materials such as beads, wool, cork, and clay. Delivered in collaboration with Proportion Design Studio, standout pieces include beaded lighting by Mash T, sofas by Dokter and Misses, screens by Kalki Design Studio, cork ceiling and wall panels by Wiid Design, rugs by Pinda Design, and a large-scale embroidered mural by the Keiskamma Art Project titled The Resilience Piece. Art pieces were curated by HUB.
SOL pop-ups, Nationwide
Facilitated by Clout/SA, the project brought together leading South African designers to create and adapt pieces for a collection celebrating SOL’s vibrant “Live from the sunny side” campaign. The brief encouraged creative freedom, resulting in bold, functional designs that reflect both SOL’s optimistic identity and a distinctly South African aesthetic.
SOL acquired 5000 pieces, now featured across in-store and festival activations. Designers explored new materials, forms, and colour, pushing their practices into new territory while maintaining strong cultural narratives.
The collaboration highlights the impact of partnerships between big brands and local creatives, supporting growth, innovation, and job creation within the design industry, while showcasing South African design on a global stage.
Makers Landing, Cape Town
Emazulwini restaurant at Makers Landing, V&A Waterfront, brings together contemporary South African design and modern local cuisine. Inspired by Chef Mmabatho Molefe’s refined interpretation of Zulu culinary heritage, the interior was developed with guidance from Clout/SA to showcase locally designed furniture, lighting, and materials.
The space balances neutral tones with bold accents, reflecting a distinctly South African aesthetic that honours tradition while embracing a global design language. Interior designer Walter Train collaborated with Clout/SA to source and curate pieces from emerging and established local designers.
The result is a vibrant, collaborative space that celebrates South African creativity across food and design, highlighting the importance of supporting local talent and industry growth.
Naked Offices. Johannesburg
The Stables
The Keiskamma Art Project: Stitched, a story of our Home
The Keiskamma Art Project, based in Hamburg in the Eastern Cape, is renowned for its award-winning embroidered artworks that capture the stories, landscapes and cultural heritage of the region. Seeking to expand into the interior design market, the project partnered with Clout/SA to translate its distinctive embroidery aesthetic into a contemporary homeware collection.
Under Clout/SA’s curatorial guidance, artists Anelisa Nyongo, Nozibele Nxadi and project director Cebo Mvubu created an embroidered artwork inspired by a quintessentially South African scenic wallpaper. The design celebrates the natural beauty of the Keiskamma River estuary and surrounding landscape, featuring indigenous vegetation, Grey Herons and Little Egrets rendered in the project’s signature embroidery style.
The resulting collection includes scenic wallpaper, printed textiles and homeware accessories, extending the reach of the artists’ storytelling while creating new income-generating opportunities for the Keiskamma Art Project and its community of makers.
