Destination
Type of Shop
Editors Pick
Read MoreAfrican Image
African Images carries fascinating artifacts from all over Africa: mosaic murals of Nelson Mandela, chickens made from plastic shopping bags, antique tribal footstools and headrests from Ghana, Ethiopian Coptic crosses and brightly printed fabrics.
Read MoreAtlantic Art Gallery
Riva Cohen, who has run the Atlantic Art Gallery for more than forty years, knows everyone and everything in the South African art world, and her gallery is full of treasures, both on the walls and stacked up against them....
Read MoreCape Cobra
For those who love leather handbags and wallets, Cape Cobra is the shop to hit in Cape Town. It sells bags in a huge variety of colors and shapes in exotic skins—crocodile, ostrich, python and lizard—that have been obtained under...
Read MoreCarrol Boyes
Handmade dolls and other Monkeybiz beaded items are available at Carrol Boyes, a boutique that carries gorgeous pewter flatware, which makes great gifts. Boyes’s pieces have even reached New York—there is a shop on SoHo’s Prince Street—but they are much...
Read MoreCecile & Boyd Showroom
The designers who became famous for their interiors at Singita have a showroom in Cape Town that is located in an historic Arts and Crafts house in Tamboerskloof. Its rooms are filled with the global treasures, furniture, lighting, accessories and...
Read MoreChandler House
This design studio and boutique sells gorgeous textiles in addition to creative gifts, antiques and artwork. The 18th century building in the city’s business district houses both the Chandler House shop and The Voorkamer Gallery—also founded by local designer Michael Chandler—where visitors can...
Read MoreClementina Ceramics
Clementina Ceramics has a wonderful and ever-changing selection of artisan work and pottery, some of it by the owner, well-known Cape Town artist Clementina van der Walt. This includes dinnerware and more decorative pieces as well as interesting art. There's...
Read MoreEverard Read Gallery & Die Kunskamer
Two of Cape Town’s most prestigious galleries share a space close to the Waterfront. South African art is still inexpensive by U.S. standards, and if you’re a collector, it’s well worth going to look at the current exhibitions. Both galleries...
Read MoreFrazer Parfum
Make an appointment to stop by this bespoke perfumery. Tammy Frazer uses organic African sources, traveling as far as Mali and Madagascar, to create ready-to-wear scents from coffee and orange blossom, nutmeg and jasmine.
Read MoreHip Hop
This boutique, located in the southern suburb of Claremont, is one of Cape Town's fashion success stories. For more than two decades, it has sold chic party dresses in African-themed prints.
Read MoreImagenius
This renovated, turn-of-the-century building on Long Street holds three floors of crafts and treasures, from costume jewelry and whimsical bags to bold ceramics and stationery. It's a fun trove to explore for inexpensive gifts.
Read MoreImiso Ceramics
This pottery gallery in the Biscuit Mill exhibits the distinctive clay work of South African artists. Imiso means “tomorrow” in Xhosa and was founded by Andile Dyalvane and Zizipho Poswa. Behind the exposition space, which features sculptural objects as well...
Read MoreLim
The name stands for Less is More, a mantra embraced by owner Pauline Mutlow, who carries furniture and lighting and wonderful collectibles such as brass plated vases that look like organ pipes and antler horns to add a twist to...
Read MoreLuxury Africa Atelier
Located in the Foundry, this new gallery space showcases many of the region’s top talents, including photographers Marius Coetzee and Graham Springer. The space also displays the Ndau accessory collection and silver by Patrick Mavros. A highlight is the jewelry...
Read MoreMaison Mara
The owner of this concept shop hails from France and wanted to re-create a touch of Paris in the Southern Hemisphere with her striking new concept store: some of her favorite global brands like Chloe and Malin + Goetz are...
Read MoreMerchants on Long
Set in a handsome 1896 Victorian building on Long St., this gorgeous store from taste maven Hanneli Rupert sells crafts, clothing, jewelry and homeware produced by artisans and small business people across Africa. Pick up anything from perfumes to bead...
Read MoreMervyn Gers
The talented ceramic artist Mervyn Gers opened a shop in 2013 to display his lovely wares. The bowls, dishes, platters and urns come in a powerful range of palettes that are only highlighted by their texture.
Read MoreMonkeybiz
The colorful intricately beaded dolls made by women from local townships have already arrived in New York and London, where they cost a lot more than they do at their headquarters in Cape Town's Bo-Kaap neighborhood. The work is truly...
Read MoreMungo
This beloved South African textile company is the brainchild of Stuart Holding, who started weaving on antique looms as more of a lark than a business endeavor. He considered his workshop or barn a “working weaving museum” when he first...
Read MoreMungo + Jemima
If you’re interested in getting a sense of South Africa’s fashion scene, head to this sleek boutique on Long Street. The racks are full of local designers’ creations, and the owners also carry a line of accessories. Expect chic, very...
Read MoreNeighbourgoods Market
If you only have time for one shopping excursion, make it the Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill on a Saturday morning. The market, on a rather insalubrious stretch of industrial properties, has become a weekly ritual for many...
Read MoreOdeon
Located in the Watershed market at the V&A Waterfront, this tableware store is known for lovely handmade ceramics and unique, locally made housewares. Founded by the husband-and-wife team behind Cape Town’s international design fair GUILD, Odeon offers a well-curated selection of items from...
Read MorePezula Interiors
Located just off busy Bree Street, this interior decoration shop is the flagship store of the Pezula Interiors brand. Known for its selection of artisan furniture, the store boasts more than 500 square meters of showroom space. Pezula—meaning “on top” in...
Read MorePichulik Jewelry
At this jewelry outpost in the Watershed market, you can buy locally made treasures inspired by traditional South African designs. Founded in 2012 by artist and traveler Katherine-Mary Pichulik, the shop offers elegant and bold accessories that were crafted in Cape Town...
Read MoreRosenwerth
If you are looking for a special-occasion outfit, go to the doyenne of South African couture. This airy boutique, in the southern suburb of Newlands, has elegant one-of-a-kind creations and a broad assortment of garments.
Read MoreStreetwires
This wire-sculpture cooperative showcases a South African craft form often seen on the streets; if you like haggling, buy a beaded chameleon or an adorable SAA aircraft from a street vendor. But at Streetwires, you can see artisans making the...
Read MoreTribal Collections
African crafts and souvenirs are hawked on every corner of the city; for something more unique and inspired, head to Collections on buzzing Long Street. The airy, two-level boutique carries a well-edited collection of African collectibles sourced from around the...
Read MoreTribal Trends
Run by the brother of the owner of Tribal Collections just up Long Street, Tribal Trends is a dramatic boutique that sells great African furniture, housewares and accessories. Huge carved wooden tables groan under with painted masks, shell or glass...
Read MoreWatershed
At the V&A Waterfront, bypass the cookie-cutter shopping center brimming with international mall staples and head instead for this covered market. It's a maze of stalls featuring wares by burgeoning local designers (Pichulik jewelry; Hello Charlie ceramics), which make for...
Read MoreWoolworths
Woolworths, an upmarket supermarket of a sort that is not to be found in the U.S., is, in my opinion, a good reason to live in South Africa. Now they’ve found yet another way to improve it, with cafés at...
