The Shop Update - Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation expect production and shipping delays.
Five | Six Textiles is a collaborative project that creates modern textiles from traditional patterns woven by a collective of masters weavers in Cote d’Ivoire. The idea for the collaboration came about when Dyula weavers from Waraniéné, a popular tourist village located at the base of Mt Korhogo, met textile art specialist, Emma Wingfield who was travelling in the area.
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In keeping with his colourful patterned signature style artist and designer Yinka Ilori introduces his debut technicolour homeware collection. Featuring textiles, dinnerware, art prints and socks the collection came about by accident. With projects cancelled due to the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, Yinka used the time to create the collection.
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Lulas Clan is an award winning family business that creates bold textiles inspired by the diversity of Africa’s vibrant heritage and cultures. The company was founded by Bonolo Helen Chepape a South African textile designer on a mission to preserve culture and heritage, by enabling them to evolve yet retain their meaning and have a continued presence in our contemporary world.
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Fibre art has risen in popularity in the past few years. There is something about the soft tactile textures that have a way of soothing the soul and bringing character into a home or work space. One textile designer who is creating striking fibre art pieces is Nom. Characterised by bold geometric patterns Nom’s pieces are handcrafted from 100% cotton fibres woven onto beech wood frames.
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The flora and fauna of the Congolese rainforest are the inspiration behind an opulent collection of vibrant patterned prints designed for contemporary interiors. The collection is designed by Barbeline a London-based textile design studio which embraces maximalism. Each print tells a story inviting you into a magical world teeming with wildlife such as giraffes, leopards, flamingos, makaku and ostriches brought to life with intense colour rich palettes.
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Knit Tank is a project that connects designers with artisanal women in Kenya, Its mission is to open up the dialogue into the continued role and evolution of craft in society, and in the process provide additional economic opportunities for the women involved.
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Landing on Banke Kuku’s gorgeous website is like entering a tropical paradise. The vibrant colours, the patterns, the textures are just mesmerising. Honing in on her Masquerade Collection of tasselled clutch bags Banke has taken her brand’s signature silk prints and woven together strips of the fabrics to form the bags, which are then finished off with a playful complementary string of tassels.
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I am loving this chic collection of contemporary batik cushions on Mbare, whom I have featured previously. Created by Tonga Textiles a Zimbabwean textile company the collection features stylized geometric shapes and patterns in a modern colour palette. Created from 100% cotton the designs are produced using a resist painted dye technique. Sadza* is used to hand paint the patterns on the fabric, which is left to dry. Once dry paint is applied and then the fabric is baked in an oven to fix the colours. Once dried the sadza is removed revealing the finished textiles. The mix and match […]
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Fashion designer Duro Olowu has designed a textile collection for furniture brand Soane Britain. The collection sees Olowu’s signature style of colourful clashing patterns meet the furniture maker’s quintessential English sensibility. The collection came about after Olowu posted a picture of the Soane Britain storefront on his Instagram page. Founder Lulu Lytle saw it and reach out, beginning a conversation that uncovered a mutual interest in a love of pattern, deep respect for craftsmanship, and brought forth similar ideas for a textile range.
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Batik is an ancient textile production technique with roots in Indonesia. In Africa batik has a long history and is still used today to produce local textiles with techniques that have been passed down from generation to generation usually mother to daughter. The Creation of Handmade Batik In Ghana is a fascinating visual essay that takes the viewer through the elaborate process. Part of a Google Arts and Culture feature the story was documented by Rahmée, founder of The Justine Project who travelled to Ghana to the Accra studio of Kwame a local batik artist who took her through the […]
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Mandombé meaning ‘That which is black’ is a script that was created in 1978 in Mbanza-Ngungu in the Bas-Congo province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Wabeladio Payi. The script, based on the square shapes of the numbers 2 and 5 is intended to write the country’s national languages and has inspired designer Jess Kilubu to explore using script and shapes to revitalise traditional Kuba Cloth Textiles. Jess is the founder of Kilubukila, a textile brand based in Kinshasa, the DRC.
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South African textile brand Skinny laMinx turns up the heat with their latest collection. The SunnySide is a feelgood collection that encourages us to bring a little sunshine and positive energy into our everyday lives. The collection of dining and kitchen textiles features bold patterns and colour prints in the Skinny laMinx signature style, which blends midcentury style, pattern and colour, with African chic.
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Contemporary African designers and artists inspired by scarification and referencing the ancient African tradition in their work. Scarification is the process of superficially cutting, scratching, etching or burning permanent designs into the skin. This form of body decoration is a practice common to West Africa where for centuries the resultant markings expressed a form of unspoken communication such as rank, tribe, beauty, and strength. Patterns in the form of scars would range from simple markings to those more elaborate and intricate adorning the face, chest, torso arms and legs. Scarification is not for the faint-hearted, undergoing the practice was said […]
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Atelier Fifty Five spotlights the work of 9 dynamic designers whose innovative use of Africa’s diverse craft heritages is translated into modern sophisticated products for contemporary living. And in doing so are upholding the banner of Well Made In Africa. Re-imagining techniques and materials these designers are paying homage to the skill of making things by hand thereby recognising how craft is at the heart of true luxury.
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Across Africa bold, colourful and intricate patterns can be found throughout fabric and surface designsthat reach back through the centuries. Pattern continues to influence the expressions of modern design emerging from and inspired by the continent. Here is a selection African designers and artists creating their own unique pattern adorned creations.
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PATTERNITY is a London design and research studio that was founded on a love of pattern, how patterns are all around us in everyday life and sharing that with the world. The studio brings ideas, people and perspectives together. The studio has collaborated with Zambian textile company Tribal Textiles, who invited founders to visit their studio in Zambian to create a handmade homewares collection based on the company’s batik fabric technique.
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Collaboration is a powerful thing, the meeting of ideas to create new ones and at times offering up unexpected viewpoints. Collaboration offers those involved a chance to learn, pick up new skills and show off each other’s skills at their best. And in this spirit I have rounded up seven inspiring modern African design collaborations that have come together over the years:
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On Friday 8th March I got to unveil the new look atelier 55 to a group of exceptional African women entrepreneurs. Organised by Lionesses of Africa the Lioness Lean In London event was held in partnership with and at the offices of top-tier law firm Hogan Lovells. Being a breakfast event it was an early start, but it was great to catch up with familiar faces, make new connections, and to hear the stories of some truly inspirational creative women. Most of all it was a celebratory event of laughter, some emotional tears, exchanging thoughts, and lots of head-nodding. Among […]
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It’s cold here at the moment, and when the temps dip towards the minus figures, it’s all I can do not to spend the days hibernating, drinking tea and snuggled under a blanket for some much-needed warmth. The cosy cashmere and wool blend blankets from Dedani Collection would be perfect allowing me to hibernate in style. Dedani Collection is a South African textiles brand that is creating handcrafted interior and fashion textiles from luxurious natural fibres.
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Bold graphic black and white prints with a distinctive Afro-Scandi aesthetic characterise the designs of Pino Nord, a design lifestyle company based in Nairobi, Kenya. Pino Nord draws on the minimalism of Scandinavian design, and fuses this with the vibrancy, boldness and artistic expression of daily life in Nairobi, and from this fusion comes a style that Pino Nord calls Tropical Minimalism.
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