Last Saturday, to celebrate 49 years on earth, I gave myself a gift: I booked an Airbnb experience with Caraci Clothing and pretended to be a fashion designer for the day.
I’m fumbling for words trying to describe why I loved this experience so much. It’s a deceptively simple concept: Pick a design, take a walk through town, choose fabric, learn about sewing, have lunch, pick up your clothing, take pictures, go home.
But the experience as a whole was more magical than this simple list of steps. Plus it included all of my very favorite things: walking in Jozi, looking at African fabric, hanging out with fantastic people, eating delicious food, and taking home beautiful, well-made clothes.
Our experience started at 10:30 a.m. at Caraci’s studio, in a beautiful Art Deco building near Gandhi Square called London House. I’ve been admiring this building for years and was super excited to go inside.
Nonhlanhla gave Thorsten and me a brief introduction to Caraci – founded by designer Sebo Marobela, who we sadly didn’t get to meet as he’s traveling in America – and then helped us choose our designs. I decided to go for the signature bomber jacket. Thorsten, who is perpetually cold, chose a slightly longer, warmer jacket with a puffy lining and hood. Guests also have the option of designing a dress, shirt, trousers, kimono, or pretty much anything else they can think of.
Nonhlanhla then took us on my favorite part of the experience: the mission to buy fabric. We walked across Gandhi Square and the Carlton Centre, straight through town to Noble African Fabrics on Troye Street, at the edge of Joburg’s Fashion District.
Some of you might remember fabric-shopping on Troye Street from my previous post about Thorsten’s “Real Disco Super Java” tuxedo. There are several African wax print fabric shops on this street and Noble African Fabrics is right across from Dianna’s, where we went the last time. Both shops are overwhelming in their crazy selection of fabrics.
Choosing the fabric for my jacket from the thousands of options at Noble African Fabrics might have been the most difficult clothing-related decision I have ever made. Nonhlanhla gave us a time limit of about 25 minutes, which was smart because Thorsten and I could have spent the whole day agonizing over our choices.
Fabric purchased, we walked the 15 minutes back to London House for our sewing lesson.
Back at the office, Nonhlanhla and Shaban took our measurements. Then Nonhlanhla showed us how to cut our fabric, draw a basic pattern, and sew a little bit on the sewing machine.
We handed our fabric over to Shaban and his assistants, Sbo and Buhle, then Ubered to lunch in Maboneng with Nonhlanhla. It had been a while since I’d gone to Maboneng and browsed along Fox Street like a real Jozi tourist. It was wonderful.
Before we even finished in Maboneng, Nonhlanhla got the call that the clothes were ready. I have no idea how Shaban and his team finished so quickly. We hopped into another Uber and headed back to London House for the big reveal.
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say Thorsten and I were overjoyed with our jackets. We put them on and went up to the 13th-floor rooftop for a mini photoshoot.
We were finished at around 3:30 p.m.
This experience was perfect in every way – I wish Airbnb had a rating higher than 5 stars – and I think every Joburg tourist, local and foreign alike, should do it at least once. I seriously want to do it over and over. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the whole Caraci team for giving me the best Joburg birthday ever.
Check out my reel for some outtakes and video footage from the day:
A post shared by Heather Mason (@2summers)
You can book the Caraci Experience on Airbnb: It cost me $135 (R2500) per person including lunch, Ubers, and clothes, although the rate varies by time of year and increases each year. Follow @caraci_experience on Instagram to see more of their beautiful work.
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show – I know I have – and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.
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It makes me smile, when I see it.