100% Design Futures: Bielle Bellingham

From the 24th to the 27th of July 2025, RX Africa will host 100% Design, Africa’s finest international design fair. Held annually at the Sandton International Convention Centre, the showcase sees a gathering of the cream of the interior and adjacent design industries, bringing together “an array of domains, from furniture and product design to technology and art.” Wanted was there in 2024, collaborating on a booth with some of our friends in the industry. We spent the weekend meeting and chatting to our readers, crafters, and collaborators. The more formal conversations took the form of a series of recorded interviews with our partners, and over the next few months, as we build up to this year’s fair, we will be sharing those conversations. We spoke to Bielle Bellingham (then Executive Creative Director of Decorex and 100% Design); Greg Gamble and Phillipe Van Der Merwe of Tonic Design; the artist Fhatuwani Mukheli and Zanele Kumalo, Associate Director at Kalashnikov Gallery, whose interview we posted last month. In this episode, we speak with Bellingham. The writer, design commentator and former editor recently left her post at Decorex and 100% Design, and is now the Brand and Business Director at Chommies, the handcrafted accessories brand for humans and pets. She spoke, among other things, about the transformative nature of design fairs; the convergence of art and design; the cult of design personality and the future of African design. Remember to like, subscribe, share, and talk about to the podcast, so we can share our work with as many of you as possible. You can find us on Iono, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. We are @wantedonlinesa on the socials, and we update wantedonlinesa.co.za daily.