Decoration + Design

Feel like brightening up your home with the culture and vibrancy of Africa?
Well now there is a boutique Australian-based agency bringing the spirit of the exotic landscape to our shores with unique, one-of-a-kind textiles and interior design products.
Director and founder of emily ziz style studio, Emma Levitt launched her agency at the Sydney Furnitex in February this year to `test the water’ and see if the market `felt the same way’ as she did about the product. The response was overwhelming.
“It has been really good, we were and still are blown away by the really positive response about the designers we represent” she says.
The South African native has strong connections to her home land and from frequent trips there, she noticed the local textile designers didn’t have a presence back in Australia.
When she approached them with her idea of representation downunder, they were excited at the idea of working with emily ziz style studio.
“Often Australia can seem like a difficult market to enter for South African Businesses and designers, as we seem so ‘remote’, however having a local agent on the ground makes the idea of doing business in Australia much easier,” says Emma.

The choice of textiles and design products at emily ziz style studio is reflective of Emma’s personal style and love for colour.
“A lot of the range is very bright and vibrant, that is very much my personal style,” she says.
“I have a love for all things decorative for the home.
“So my goal was to source product and textile design that had differentiation, but also added some kind of excitement to the environment that it was going to be used in.”
Browsing the company website, there is an impressive line-up of creatives using hand-made techniques with an artistic aesthetic.
Willowlamp lighting are highly decorated designers, known world-wide for their visual masterpieces that marry organic forms with industrial materials and processes to create a dramatic new species of lighting.

Then there is textile designer, Lorenzo Nassimbeni who creates architectural style drawings on fabric inspired by the international landmark buildings such as Notre Dame, The Chrysler Building and The Sydney Opera House.
His collections have been met with wide acclaim both in South Africa and abroad.

But emily ziz is more than just an agency, the company is also founded on a strong humanitarian ethos, giving back to the African continent in any way possible.
 They are proud to import Monkeybiz Indigenous beadwork crafted by a community of 450 women in the Khayelitsha township of Cape Town, South Africa.
The sale of the beadwork helps contribute towards creating economic stability and empowerment to the most economically under-resourced areas of South Africa. The Monkeybiz artists have taken traditional African curio design and created one off hand-made pieces which have become collectable designer artworks.
Celebrity collectors range from Nelson Mandela to Donna Karan and Halle Berry.

This benevolence is an important part of the emily ziz message.
“South Africa is an amazing country that produces work which is second to none,” she says.
“The country’s history has often made foreign market entry difficult, or even impossible, and it’s great to be able to bring this design and skill into Australia.”
African sketchbook is another success story.
Partner and Creative Director, Di Christian, who has been painting fabrics for over twenty years, takes on individuals from the local town ships that have no formal art training and develops them into a team of highly skilled painters, where everything is done by hand. 
African Sketchbook has helped take them to a commercial level as valued artists.
Their work spans worldwide from prestigious hotels such as The Crosby Hotel, New York, to private homes in Europe.

The emily ziz style studio has recently added another 10 designer products to her showroom and will have them on display at the upcoming Decoration + Design trade show from from 21-24 July in the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre.

To register yourself as a visitor, head here.