Tank, one of Cape Town’s pillars of cool, resides in De Waterkant Village, a cluster of hip restaurants and shops frequented by locals and expats. The name refers to a 20,000-litre saltwater fish tank, which divides the supremely futuristic restaurant and bar. Here the Wallpaper * crowd, clad in stilettos and fitted suits, chat amiably at tables, yet no one gives us a judgmental once-over, which is indicative of Capetonians’ ease and friendliness. With a population of almost 3 million, the city is famous for its tolerance and ranks as one of the five most gay-friendly places in the world. The feeling is hip but not haughty.

When we leave Tank, I see the exact design vibe I’ve been trying to put my finger on captured through the glass of a nearby design shop’s display window. A coffee table ottoman is in step with international standards of chic, but instead of the expected leather covering, it’s wrapped in wild antelope hide. There’s also a resin animal horn serving as a sleek modern lamp base and ostrich-egg tea lights. The delightful twist manages to co-opt an organic African look all its own. I love that they’re expressing a fabulously current sense of cool but on their own terms. I’m sure this phenomenon is fostered by being thousands of kilometres from the nearest international design capital, and they’re better off for it.

The next morning, we set off for Kloof Street, where signs of this unique and fashionable South African esthetic abound. Just off the street, a white mod 1960s chandelier catches my eye outside Design Trade. Owner Justin Hodge buzzes us through a gate (a common nod to safety in most street-level shops), and we enter a veritable den of modern Africa. Stunning leather carpets are impala hides stitched in a checkerboard pattern. Ostrich feathers adorn lampshades, and zebra skins cover club chairs.

When it comes to design, “South Africans once suffered from an inferiority complex,” Hodge explains. “Now a contemporary South African design concept is being invented.” My uneasiness about all this wild bounty is assuaged: all of Design Trade’s furniture and accessories are created out of sustainable resources from certified sources; conservation is now the norm, not the exception, Hodge says.

As we amble further down, we hit a crop of cafés and the new Hippo Boutique Hotel. It has all the trademarks of boutique chic, but its clean industrial look is punctuated with sophisticated contemporary art. Rothko-esque paintings hang above beds in each room in a nod to Cape Town’s local art scene. No wonder the players in Cape Town’s burgeoning film industry like to stay here.

On our way to the wine district the next day, we learn of the ritzy film industry’s permanent foray into the Cape Town scene. Between town and the wine region, land is earmarked for the construction of a Hollywood-style film studio, soon to be the third largest studio in the world. Indeed, the distant rolling hills and mountains of the Cape Winelands provide the perfect setting for any romance or epic adventure. Our little adventure covers Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl, a triumvirate of villages offering the holy trinity of South Africa’s impressive wine industry. In these parts, the postcolonial quaintness of the towns is intact.

We stop for lunch in Stellenbosch, where a collegiate feel has created a vibrant café culture. Later, three wineries catch my eye: Dornier, where the modern architecture mimics the shape of a fish; the recently-opened and fabulously sophisticated Ernie Els winery where the famed golfer has spared no expense in creating one of South Africa’s best (and most expensive) wines; and Warwick, where winery matriarch Norma Ratcliffe (who hails from Edmonton) has succeeded in producing South Africa ’s hottest export – one of her vintages ranked on the Wine Spectator ’s top 100 wines of 2004.

We’re told that our visit isn’t complete without leaving the city to see some of the spectacular villages and suburbs that make up greater Cape Town. As we wend our way along Victoria Road, the drama of the ocean views is matched only by the scores of new houses built along the hairpin turns, many of them easily soaring to over a cool million in Canadian dollars. We pass through Camps Bay, where the fabulous like to flock for casual alfresco dining along the water.

Forty minutes later, we park at Polana, which literally hugs the ocean’s edge in quaint Kalk Bay. At low tide, the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows open to create a near seamless boundary between the inside and outside. At high tide, the windows close and waves crash against the sturdy panes of glass, creating a most dramatic watering hole.

Originally, I wasn’t sure whether the international throngs of cosmopolites would be a boon or a curse to this emerging city. It’s been little more than 10 years since the end of apartheid, yet Cape Town’s dramatic beauty and multi-ethnic population have successfully birthed a new definition of international style with an African twist. I marvel at how the city has been able to mix elements of its unique culture and meld it with a forward-thinking worldly attitude for a promising new future. Like the harnessing of the ocean’s power and beauty at Polana, this new style expresses the confidence and reverence with which South Africans are learning to showcase their natural gifts. 

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