From the Series
After two years of hard work and collaboration, the designers who worked together on the ÖVERALLT collection will be back on the Design Indaba stage, this time to present the final product.
The collaboration was born out of a curiousity to examine what interesting products could come out when one brings together a group of designers, architects, artists and creatives from five African countries to collaborate with five of IKEA's in-house designers.
The journey of ÖVERALLT started with IKEA wanting to learn more about the contemporary African design scene and the creative explosion that can be seen in several cities around Africa.
The ten designers are all connected to Design Indaba in some way. For example, Renee Rossouw and Laduma Ngxokolo were both Design Indaba Emerging Creatives with Ngxololo's Xhosa-inspired shawl having been named the Most Beautiful Object in South Africa in 2016.
While textile designer, Sindiso Khumalo has the honour of both being a past Design Indaba Conference speaker and having one of her dresses as a nominee for the Most Beautiful Object in South Africa in 2016.
Khumalo creates sustainable textiles with a strong emphasis on African storytelling.
Other Design Indaba alumni inlcude architect Issa Diabaté, as well as Senegalese designers Selly Raby Kane and Bibi Seck.
The above designers together with Naeem Biviji and Bethan Rayner from Studio Propolis in Kenya as well as Mariam Hazem and Hend Riad from Reform Studio in Cairo, whom we've met while travelling the continent looking for interesting designers, will also be sharing their journeys.
Mikael Axelsson, Ina Vuorivirta, Kevin Gouriou, Johanna Jelinek and Hanna Dalrot who all work as part of IKEA's in-house design team, will also be in Cape Town to share some more about their experience in this collaboration.
The starting point for the collection was to explore modern urban rituals connected to socialising around food, indoor and outdoor living; the rituals around expressing identity and sustainability.
From there, the design and development process has resulted in a collection of products that is all about building bridges and discovering the “urban living room” together with others.
The collection, which will be available in all IKEA markets in May 2019, includes larger pieces of furniture, tableware, textiles, and a sustainable tote bag, amongst others.
The collection will also be showcased for the first time ever during Design Indaba Festival in Cape Town, from 27 February to 1 March 2019. During these dates, the majority of the ÖVERALLT designers will also be present and a makers-lab will be set up where they will demonstrate how some of the products can be customised.
