Yinka Ilori’s Rainbow Connection
Eyes in Reflection, one of the heady patterns part of the just-launched collaboration between Yinka Ilori and Momentum.
At this week’s NeoCon interior design fair in Chicago, the Best of Competition Award was given to the Yinka Ilori x Momentum Textiles & Wallcovering collaboration – and I think it’s obvious why.
Examples of Ilori’s marvelous pattern play somersault across Momentum’s sumptuous textiles and wallcoverings to create the ultimate joy-inducing décor. There are a range of soul-stirring patterns in the collection – coming in different colourways, naturally – each injected with a blend of visually narrative nods to Ilori’s British-Nigerian heritage.
Of course this isn’t the first time Ilori, one of my favourite London-based creatives, has collaborated with a brand to bring his brilliant visions to life. In 2023, two collections of chair designs he crafted were displayed during the Frieze Art Fair in Seoul; the selection of zesty seating was found at fashion label MCM’s HAUS located in the city’s Gangnam district. Ilori has created a range of skateboard art editions for The Skateroom (which also has a new collection of boards by the inimitable Mickalene Thomas, FYI), and Maison Courvoisier has tapped him twice to conceive of bottle and box designs for its limited-edition line of Courvoisier VSOP.
On a personal note, my first time at a Labrum London show during London Fashion Week in 2021 included seeing a set designed by Ilori - what a thrill! A series of characteristically radiant stools were made for the occasion, on which the Balimaya Project’s musicians sat to soundtrack the runway presentation. A few months later, seven of said stools were auctioned off with proceeds going to the King Naimbana II Foundation in Sierra Leone, the birthplace of Labrum’s lovely Creative Director, Foday Dumbuya, who established the sport-focused charity in 2016.
Ilori has additionally crafted a range of public art displays over the years such as the rotund Slices of Peace found in Orchard Park in Kent, and a series of vibrant pedestrian crossings he created for the 2021 London Design Festival. His practice, which is renowned for its furniture upcycling component, was lauded in an exhibition at the Design Museum in London in 2022-2023; I would recommend checking out the web page about the show as it features a fun studio visit video as well as a playlist of tunes that have inspired Ilori’s resplendent output.
Being as entirely enamoured with his work as I am, I couldn’t be happier about Ilori’s newest accolade at NeoCon and look forward to seeing where his lively patterns end up next.
