“The creative explosion which is taking place in several cities around Africa right now is something IKEA is curious about,” said Marcus Engman, Head of Design at IKEA. “We want to learn from this and spread it to the rest of the world.”
ENDORSEMENT: Beyonce Wears Senegalese Designer Selly Raby Kane’s signature Kimono and skirt
The project got off the ground through a chance meeting between Engman and Ravi Naidoo, founder of the creative hub Design Indaba, which holds an annual conference showcasing the best of African design.
The two men discussed an Africa range, and Naidoo supplied a list of talents from the Indaba alumni network, covering a range of disciplines from Rwandan architect Christian Benimana to Selly Raby Kane. The designers were invited to a brainstorming session in the woods of Almhult, Ikea’s headquarters in Sweden.
The first prototypes will be on display at the 22nd Design Indaba conference in Cape Town. The pieces will be in stores worldwide in 2019.
Culled from The Young Empire
