Crema Design
Crema Design is the go-to supplier for a curated selection of the finest international furniture and lighting brands.
The story of Crema Design began when owner, Craig Tabor-Raeside, moved back to Cape Town from London and took over the 6 years old store. Craig transformed the store and experience completely. At that point, Crema Design sold only lighting fixtures, from expensive brands. The high price points from the original suppliers, such as Flos, Tom Dixon, Gubi and Foscarini, was a hurdle, and sale volumes were low. Craig quickly realized that more accessible furniture and lighting options were the answer – and HAY and Muuto were subsequently added after a year of negotiation. These Danish brands provide a more affordable kind of luxury – still using artisanal production techniques and impeccable materials, but with a focus on keeping import and item costs low. With a more well-rounded selection, Crema Design yielded positive results, and they were able to move out of their small Greenpoint location into a considerably larger 450 sq. meter (European standard) showroom space. This location, near the Biscuit Mill, is where they are based today. The showroom has popular pieces from each of their brands available for viewing, as well as for rental.
Crema Design have been around long enough to observe the changes in the South African industry. Over the years, consumers have become more educated on international trends and aesthetics – traveled more and with more exposure to brands with Instagram and Facebook. This has slowly taken a lot of Crema Design’s workload off their hands, as their biggest challenge was educating their potential clients on the latest releases. Today they face the challenge of ‘throw away’ consumer culture. All of their products are built and tested in rigorous environments, and are the antithesis to the fast production – fast consumption practice that is globally commonplace today. It is still a task of educating people the importance of buying products with serious longevity. Buying a Crema Design product means having it for life and this is an important factor in global sustainability.
While Crema Design was historically focused on high-end residential clients, but they are now suppliers for corporate environments, such as restaurants, hotels and offices.
Tom Dixon have been with Crema Design since the beginning, and are by far one of their personal favourite brands. Not only do Tom Dixon and Crema Design’s brand identity align well – luxury with a quirky edge – but their companies have grown alongside one another and enjoy mutual benefit. A bit about Tom Dixon himself; he was born and trained in Britain, and has a strong industrial design background. He has a passion for exploring manufacturing processes outside of lighting and furniture and adapting them to his products. Having won “best international lighting designer” a few times over, the influence Tom Dixon has on the industry is palpable. We’re now seeing them move away from the classic metal finishes to a more matte, monochrome look which is new for the South African market.
&Tradition is new to the interior scene, and to Crema Design’s selection of Danish design houses, but they boast an impressive selection of accessible Scandinavian design with a simple luxurious edge. Crema Design introduced &Tradition to their catalogue in 2017, and quickly saw interest and popularity in the South African market. They represent everything we’ve come to love about Crema Design, quality, value, and stunning design with a somewhat humorous edge. &Tradition holds exclusive production rights to many 20th century classic designs, and this nod to the old design masters helps guide them as they welcome contemporary designers to their catalogue.
Crema Design is extremely excited to announce their latest addition to their curated selection of brands Parachilna. This Spanish design company has a name taken from a small Australian country town. Their self description in their catalogue references the great Ghan train that once passed through this area, and points to two passengers waiting at the old train station, hoping that one day, against all odds, the train will come again. Parachilna believe that this hope and this passion for finding the fascinating, even in a dessert, are what drove their success in the lighting industry. A deep love for luxury combined with a slightly quirky and humorous edge are really what drew Crema Design and Craig to bringing this new addition into their selection.
