3 reasons why we’re here for the latest Skinny laMinx range
Inspired by Cape Town’s architectural heritage, Heather Moore translates her everyday urban landscape into surface design.
Beloved by Capetonians as a place to jog, walk or cycle, Sea Point Promenade offers some of this city’s most spectacular views. But it’s not the ocean that Skinny laMinx founder Heather Moore has drawn from in her new PROMENADE lifestyle collection, it’s the strip’s historic architectural façades.
Heather is well-known for her love of the mid-century aesthetic and for drawing on her daily environment as inspiration for her work. Here’s why we love her new collection.
It’s inspired by our everyday built environment
The designs in the collection are inspired by a few of Beach Road’s iconic mid-century properties and murals. These include the sandstone Fortuna apartments in Mouille Point, the terrazzo mural on the face of the Bonne Esperance apartment block (designed by Erik Laubscher in 1958) and the mosaic mural on the public bathrooms, few of which the average jogger takes the time to admire.
After frequenting Beach Road for several years, Heather stopped and began sketching the design of the mosaic-tiled public bathrooms. The realisation that she hadn’t taken note of them previously inspired her to seek out more. Hence, the PROMENADE lifestyle collection was born.
“Creative thinking is like that. You look at something – even a thing you’ve seen 100 times – and suddenly you see something new. So that’s why I keep my eyes out for ‘treasure’ every day. It can be found in the most ordinary things,” says Heather.
It’s a collaborative effort with some of our top local talents
The Fortuna stacking vase (our favourite of the range), named after the Fortuna apartments was designed by Heather but developed by well-known ceramicist Colin Braye of Vorster & Braye. This design was also expanded into a limited-edition print and silk scarf.
Inspired by the mosaic design on the Sea Point public bathrooms, Heather collaborated with The Wren Design to create a series of bright and bold stitched paper laptop covers, wallets and accessories.
We admire the creative transfer between design disciplines
We love how the journey from architecture to sketch to surface and product design has unfolded. These three historic buildings have been translated into two cotton-silk summer scarves, a clever ceramic stacking vase, several risograph prints and a variety of stylish paper accessories.
“When I slowed down to look at them properly, not only could I see them better, I also started to imagine what might come next. Imagine…how could this apartment wall become a vase? How might this meandering mosaic look on a silk scarf, a wallpaper, a laptop bag?” she says.
With Heather’s creative and artistic eye, the potential of even the most overlooked buildings can be unlocked.
