Introducing VYx44 – a collaborative store with the mission to bring the city to the north. Just in time for Christmas shopping this year, VYx44 has housed a number of artisans, makers and designers from arty 44 Stanley in Auckland Park and Victoria Yards in Lorentzville – all under one roof.
PJ Henning, manager from Victoria Yards and conceptualiser, shared the inspiration behind this collaboration. “I think the first thing is that the inspiration is drawn from the spaces – Victoria Yards and 44 Stanley themselves. We wanted to give the flavour of those spaces and bring it to somewhere like Hyde Park.”
Having been invited by the centre, Henning mentioned that there was space available and it needed to be filled. “What we tried to do is to keep the industrial feel of both spaces; they are old industrial-zone buildings after all. The graffiti, the art work, the numbers on the wall, that is just a flavour of that.
“The idea behind it was ‘let’s bring a little bit of what people generally might not get to, like Victoria Yards. “This gives them the opportunity to come and see it in a setting they are familiar with, with the aim of it enticing them to go down to Victoria Yards or 44 Stanley. We want to create a bridge between the two.” Henning said that some of the vendors were handpicked specifically for the collaboration.
“We brought in a few tenants who wanted to be part of the space. “Some vendors were handpicked and these are people who are able to showcase their products in a new environment.” Community driven and all for the benefit of the makers, newer projects like the Design Innovation and Koop Studios are some of the community projects taking place this year.
Happening all in the month of Hyde Park Corner’s 50th birthday celebrations, you can do Christmas shopping differently this year and visit the trendy space, situated at the Cortina Court at Hyde Park Corner, until 24 December.
ALSO READ: Fresh perspective on fabulous SA Fashion Week
