Bragging about South African design is such a pleasure! “So-and-so won an international award, beating out their foreign peers who have a deep well of resources in comparison”, you might say. Or, “this person has just been featured in an international showcase of major cultural significance. How wonderful!” And yet, the bragger’s actual experience with the product they’re discussing is very likely, inconveniently, limited. Access to great local design is as much of an ongoing and evolving challenge as the business acumen needed to sustain a brand beyond the hype of a prize, showcase or influencer endorsement. AKJP Studio, a concept store on Cape Town’s Kloof Street, isn’t claiming to solve this problem — because they’re too busy working to counteract it. For newcomers and the uninitiated, let’s get the acronym demystification out of the way. The AK in AKJP stands for Adriaan Kuiters, the grandfather of founder Keith Henning, after whom he named his clothing brand in 2009. JP is the artist Jody Paulsen, who collaborated with Keith to birth the clothing label AKJP. A darling of the South African fashion scene since 2011, AKJP is now the core fashion offering at AKJP Studio: a timeless, unisex collection of denim and tote bags. Through its evolution, AKJP Studio has remained a beacon of fashion and broader design (ceramics, fragrance, homeware, publications, and more) with worthy acclaim for consistently setting the bar (figuratively and, since 2024, literally) in local retail. “AKJP Studio understands context, community and quality,” Keith summarises, most proud of how the store has always retained its point of view. “It presents African design with confidence, nuance and international relevance.” AKJP Studio is the type of space you recommend as both a worthwhile tip and an affirming reflection of your personal taste. “Have you ever seen me go like this?” Claudia Leigh Selzer pinch-rubs the side of her ear, illustrating the signal she gives to her staff that the music needs to be turned up a notch. That’s 70s disco, by the way, which Claudia’s research has shown to hit just the right number of beats per minute to make customers shop continuously. “That also happens to be my favourite genre. I could play club at a certain BPM, but I don’t think that suits the store.” Jody has always been first and foremost a fine artist, dipping in and out of the AKJP Studio world as a collaborator at large. He describes his latest offering, a series of tablecloths, as an “experiment with colour”. With Claudia having worked her way up from sales assistant to CEO and business partner, Keith has been able to focus on his acclaimed eponymous ceramic artworks, moving to Milan, and checking in on the store daily via FaceTime. “We’re inseparable,” says Claudia. “He’s got an eye for the details I can’t see anymore. We run this ship together.” Claudia’s success comes down to her “vision paired with execution,” attests Keith. “She doesn’t just imagine what AKJP Studio could be — she builds it, sustains it and evolves it.” He’s referring to her expansions of the store’s floor plan. In the back, luxury section, South Africa’s finest pieces hang alongside labels from Kenya (Sevaria) and Nigeria (IAMISIGO). In the front, AKJP Bar serves coffee, pastries, and cocktails through and beyond office hours. But before you even step foot inside the store, you’ll notice something fun happening in the window. Every few weeks, as an AKJP Studio designer launches a new product line, they design an accompanying window display. The results are, without fail, unconventional and striking in a way that will have you reaching for your phone to capture the burst of visual dopamine behind the glass. It’s the only local equivalent of the lauded overseas window displays at a Bergdorf Goodman or Selfridges. “Producing the window is the beginning of the relationship with the designer,” says Claudia. “I get to know them as an artist, as a person. What are their intentions with their brand? What is it they want to say? It’s the perfect crash course.” AKJP Studio does so much more than showcase and sell products. Through Claudia, they form lasting symbiotic relationships with designers focused on refining their product, growing their business, and creating a safe space for their most authentic expression. Unencumbered creativity, attests Claudia, is at the root of AKJP Studio’s success. The window is a key expression of that. “I want the window to be a place where a designer can dream and play,” she says. “When you do something that is so true to you, people can feel it, and then they want to buy that dress.” Of course, dreams will be paired with thoughtful wake-up calls wherever necessary. “I’m gonna tell you the honest truth. I have to do that.” “It’s very important to me, to see you succeed,” Claudia says. She takes her relationship with each and every designer stocked in the store very seriously. “These people are important to me. I’m not in the business of fashion. I’m in the business of people.” That sentiment extends to patrons. Both Keith and Claudia emphasise the importance of community in the store’s success. “It’s not just a store — it’s a cultural space,” says Keith. Claudia uses the bar as an example: “I want it to be a spot where creatives can be surrounded by beautiful South African, and now African, design. Be inspired. And just ... connect.” And for shoppers searching for something specific, from a meticulously designed white tee to a party showstopper, “This is their moment,” says Claudia. “Let’s find that. ’Cause we can find it.”