Ikea partners with African designers for its new collection

The Swedish furniture giant Ikea took an unprecedented move to tap into Africa’s design and fashion industry. Through a partnership with the South African creative hub Design Indaba, Ikea has assembled some of the best design talent from the continent to create an Africa-inspired collection.

The first design prototypes were showcased at this year’s Design Indaba Conference in South Africa and saw an explosion of colour and pattern, a shift from the Ikea’s minimalist style. The collection will launch in stores across the world in 2019.

A chance meeting between Design Indaba’s Ravi Naidoo and Ikea’s Head of Design Marcus Engman paved the way for this historic collaboration. According to Engman, Ikea was curious about the creative explosion in Africa and wanted to learn from it.

Africa’s fashion and design industry is going through what some has described as a renaissance, and has seen African designs catapulted onto international runways and exhibitions. African brands such as Sole Rebels and Bantu Wax are increasingly becoming more mainstream, and African bold prints can be seen on runways from Milan to New York. However, these designs are yet to make it into people’s homes.

"The whole world needs a bit of Africa," says Naidoo. "The African aesthetic is not terribly visible in homes around the world."

This collaboration with a global retail giant will introduce names such as Issa Diabate, Christian Benimana and Selly Raby Kane to international audiences. Naidoo also hopes this move by Ikea will embolden other international brands to commission African designs.

A central component of this initiative is sustainability and affordability. Ikea prides itself with being able to provide low-cost furniture and interior décor. There is also the issue of using Africa-sourced materials in the designs and this will require reliable supply chains.

Unfortunately, these products will not be available in most African countries. Ikea has only two stores on the continent.