Designers We Love: Yinka Ilori

INTERVIEWED BY Lindi Brownell Meiring

When we heard Yinka Ilori’s colourful pieces were used in the ecletic Peponi House in Notting Hill, we decided to catch up with this London-based furniture designer to find out what inspires his bright and beautiful designs. 

How do Nigerian parables and African fabrics inspire your creations?

Nigerian parables and African fabrics inspire my work in really impactful ways because they give me the opportunity to challenge people’s perceptions about every day situations in a thought provoking way. As a child, my parents told me Nigerian parables about equality, hard work, social class, etc. The African fabrics were worn (and are still worn) in my household. It brings back beautiful memories. My parents would make a huge effort to show off their latest outfits (sewn by their favorite tailor) at church every Sunday. It was something that was very important, not only for my parents, but for every Nigerian. Everyone always made sure that their tailor was the best!

Seeing the way Dutch Wax, Swiss Voile Lace and Aso-Oke was worn in my household and amongst our friends and family was phenomenal. Every weekend was a fashion parade, which I really loved. Everyone was so proud to be Nigerian and that was something that touched my heart early on in life. As I was able to consume all this inspiration and cultural knowledge from such an early age, from such great tastemakers, it was only right for me to portray this in my work.

Nigerian parables and African fabrics are a part of my story. They have shaped who I am as a furniture designer today, so I really wanted to share that with the world and give people an insight into my life, through my eyes.

You describe yourself as an up-cycled furniture designer. What is it about up-cycling that entices you to create? 

What I love about up-cycling is the beauty of the stories that each chair holds. Vintage furniture holds beautiful stories that can never be bought. You can’t buy someone’s story, but you can buy a chair with a story. Each story is told through the previous owner and nobody can tell your story better than you.

My parents are strong believers in God and one thing they would always tell me is that “they can kill the body, but not the soul”. I found this saying profoundly interesting because in some ways I connected this to so many things in my life – and one of those things is vintage chairs.

Chairs have a soul. Even if its structure is damaged, it can never lose its soul and story. Working with old furniture enables me to create another story on top of the item’s existing story. This is then followed by a Yoruba parable, which is something that’s a huge part of my life. To share it with people every day is an absolute dream.

As an up-cycled furniture designer, what do you believe are the most important aspects of sustainable design?

I believe the most important aspects of sustainable design are the use of low-impact materials, energy efficiency, recycling, and renewable and robust eco-design.

To view more of Yinka’s work and to keep up to date with what he’s creating, visit yinkailori.com or facebook.com/yinksdesigns. You can also follow him on Twitter and Instagram.