AJ: Momentum textiles and wall covering is the largest supplier of contract textiles and wall coverings to the commercial interiors industry and are recognized for sustainable product design and collaborations with renowned artists and designers. Momentum recently launched a new collection with Bianca Alori, a British Nigerian multidisciplinary artist and designer based in London, who is often referred to as the Architect of Joy.
Hi, everyone. How are we doing? Okay.
Hi, I’m A. J. Perrone. I am the executive vice president and design futurists for Sandow Design Group. For those of you that don’t know Sandow Design Group, we have amazing brands that you all know and love, like Interior Design Magazine, Metropolis Magazine, Design [00:01:00] Milk, ThinkLab and so much more. So You are at the Once Upon a Project podcast, and I’m very, very excited to have the amazing Yinka Ilori.
Say hi, Yinka.
Yinka: Hello, hello.
AJ: Who is the belle of the ball here at Neocon. My God. He has won every award.
Yinka: Kind of, yeah. Kind of. Maybe.
AJ: He’s like, I don’t know what hit me. And this is your first Neocon you’ve ever come to?
Yinka: That’s correct, yeah. First time in Chicago and my first Neocon, yeah.
AJ: So, everyone that’s in the audience, if you are a first Neoconer, raise your hand.
Okay, there’s like 30 people in your same shoes.
Yinka: Not just me, okay. They have
AJ: lots of empathy for you, but they’re not taking home awards like you are. So So, and we’re so excited to have him here. Yinka, you’ve done this amazing collection with [00:02:00] Momentum. We’ve got a pillow here. We’ve got a room. I don’t know if you’ve even seen the room.
Yinka: I haven’t seen the room. No, no. Okay, well, we’ll
AJ: show you. It’s a little sneak peek from the product shot. Um, but, so we’re so excited that you’re joining us here today. I know your schedule’s crazy with Nia Khan, but we want to hear more about you. So tell us. Tell us your background of how you became a designer.
Yinka: Well, I started my career sort of going on and it is 14, 15 years. I have a small design studio in London where we design products and architecture and we work within interiors, , a little bit of fashion. But we work across the disciplinary. We’re a small team of like 15 people, architects, product designers, illustrators, and we just work on projects globally around the world.
But I studied furniture design during my degree, my bachelor of honours degree, uh, in London. Where did you study? London Metropolitan, the Sir John Cass, and that was my first entry into design, it was through [00:03:00] designing furniture and products. And then I, you know, got a loan from the Prince’s Trust, which is a fund owned by King Charles himself, where he gives creatives a loan to start their business.
So he gave me around 4, 000 when I finished uni to start my design career.
AJ: So, you know, in London, when there’s a retail shop, you have the little crests, the royal crests. Are you going to get a little royal crest to put on top of all your products?
Yinka: Maybe, maybe.
AJ: Yeah. I can call Chuck up for you and ask him.
So, you talk a lot about how design influences people and their feelings and emotions. How has design changed your life?
Yinka: Design has changed my life in a number of different ways. I grew up in London, you know, just born to Nigerian parents. But I think for me, the benefit of design is, is to, is to change the world.
It’s to impact and inspire and to, I think, make the world a better place. So for me, I’ve always used design as a way to, you know, bring people together on [00:04:00] communities and cultures. And, you know, I love telling stories, but also I love making memories within design. So for me, it’s always kind of been a tool that can really.
I don’t know, change the world and make it a more joyful and inclusive place. And that’s how I use design within my practice.
AJ: And so much of that is about color with your products. You know, a lot of designers tend to shy away from using bold, strong colors. Tell us your philosophy and how you’ve gotten to create such strong, joyful patterns.
Yinka: Well, from a, from a young kid, I’ve always been, you know, like immersed around, you Color. I’m Nigerian. So my parents born in Nigeria moved to London and Color is everything that they use to make memories whether it’s going to a church service or to a wedding or being at home It’s very celebratory. It’s very joyful and positive.
So as a young kid I was quite shy of color because my parents were very loud and unapologetic with what they wore and they loved attention They loved being seen they loved to being You know, the [00:05:00] loudest in the room and as Nigerians, we are very much, but we are loud people. We love to maybe.. I’m Nigerian, you know, we’re very expressive and I always sort of try to shy away from that But I went to Nigeria when I was like 11 years old For the first time and I was blown away by the culture and the language and the richness and you know in materiality the textiles and the fabrics and And that really did change my perspective on why they wore what they wore and what it did for them.
And that kind of fed through into my, uh, practice, hence why I want to use, I use color in my work because I know how much joy it brings people, but also the way it brings us together to share, you know, one common thing and one common feeling. So that was my trajectory into the use of color in my work.
AJ: And I mean, when you think of London, you don’t think of bright, happy colors.
Yinka: You don’t.
AJ: And I mean. Not to put down the British at all, but my boyfriend is British, but I understand you much better just to [00:06:00] tell you that, but I can imagine it was, it’s somewhat of a shock to some people that you’ve worked with, whether, no matter what country they’re from, that are used to kind of these Very soft, sophisticated, muted kind of spaces that you’re, you’re bringing in such strong.
Do you, do you get people that are like, Oh my God, no, I can’t have that. I mean, is, do you, do you get negative?
Yinka: I don’t actually, I’ve been quite, you know, fortunate that everyone I’ve worked with from my career has always wanted to work with me because of the use of color. I had one client say to me, you know, I use too much color.
And I was like, you, you know what I do, you know, this is why I use, I use, I use color. No, I think everyone, whenever I wear color, people want to speak to me. People want to engage, people want to, you know, connect. If I wear black at home, my parents will ask me if I’m okay or if I’m well. Are you happy? So I think, especially within Nigerian culture, color is, it’s always something that is linked to positivity and something positive.
But also it’s linked to affirmation. You [00:07:00] know, I wear colors because I’m always trying to affirm something in my life or in my day soon.
AJ: When we look at your collections, your award winning collections, thank you very much, and you look at the patterns and the use of the different colors together, somehow it does exude happiness and joy.
How, how do you do that? How do you put these color combinations together that it actually brings joy? Joy when you look at it
Yinka: Again, it has to go back to my parents because they never really looked at the next quantum color of the year or they never looked at color trends or style trends. And I think that was kind of passed on from my grandmother to my parents and to me.
So they would, you know, my mom would travel to Switzerland and I do and she would acquire these amazing Swiss for less fabrics and textiles and she would curate. You know what she wore and my dad would create what he wore and just my aunties and uncles so [00:08:00] they never really seeked permission to Use color or apply color applied textures.
They just kind of did it because it made them feel good So I adopted those ways of working and thinking and how you use color and that’s why I think i’m yeah I’m, really good at using Color but also using color as a form of Communication, but also trying to evoke, you know, different themes and different emotions when you wear it, because some colors make you feel uplifted or joyful or, or relaxed.
There is a science to color. And that’s something that I’ve a skill I’ve learned, you know, over the 15 years of being an artist designer in London.
AJ: That’s amazing. Okay, let’s talk a little bit about what the process was like of your recent project with momentum. You’re in London. Yep. They’re in the United States.
That’s right. How did they find you and how did the collaboration work?
Yinka: Yeah, good question. I’ve got again, you know, small design studio and I work with different collaborators around the world. We work on like probably [00:09:00] 20 projects a year and they range from pavilions to a brand collaboration with a fashion house or maybe a product or a watch or it could be anything.
And I move around all these projects, you know, throughout, throughout the year and my team are, you know, are meticulous in the way they work with me and work 24 seven around the clock. But I wasn’t, I know I was in London, they were in Chicago, I think, or somewhere in the US, Pennsylvania, I’m not sure where, but in the US.
And someone had seen a project I did in London for a A leather company called, a guy called Bilamberg. And he emailed me about doing a collaboration with him, creating Talheit. And someone called Ellie in Momentum saw the collection and shared it with the team. And then Jennifer, who is an audience behind you there, reached out to me and asked about maybe doing a collaboration with Momentum Textiles.
I was not sure about doing a collaboration because we work with so many brands. [00:10:00] And sometimes with brand collaborations, they can sometimes control the narrative. And sometimes you’re not as free as you think you’d want to be when you start the contract. And then you get through the middle, you kind of lose the DNA identity because it becomes diluted.
So Jennifer came to my studio in London for just for a day. I was really busy. She spent, she came to see me for about an hour. And we had a great chat for an hour and gave you a studio tour and Discuss my process on my practice and we just connected just over, you know, a cup of tea I think you would gave you a tea or something You had a hot drink and we we just got on so well and then it just kind of happened from there And then I was still a bit flaky with our conversation.
I’m just not sure. And then we just started to kind of grow. And then two years, three years, we’re here in Chicago with the collection.
AJ: Now I’d be remiss, Jennifer, if you can stand up just for a quick second. Jennifer Nye won a HIPAA award for people [00:11:00] category. She is one of my favorite people. More about the behind the scenes right after this short message.
Momentum Textiles and Wallcovering is excited to share the Yinka Olori by Momentum Collection, which includes a series of commercial textiles and wallcoverings that is bold and unapologetic in its colors and patterns. From the minimal mauve florals to the stylish, Dak Geometrics. Each pattern tells a story that inspires and empowers community across workspaces from collaborative meeting rooms to hotel lobbies, educational settings and beyond.
Together they aim to transform commercial spaces into playful, creative hubs that inspire, uplift and heal. So, I, I can completely understand that. You’re like, ah, I’m not sure about it. And then you meet Jen and you’re like, oh, I love you. That’s, see, I wanna work, work with you. Right. That
Yinka: that’s what happened.
Yeah. That’s what happened. And I think it’s quite important, when you collaborate with different brands, whether it’s [00:12:00] products or textiles or whatever, you know, the collaboration is, is that you have a, an understanding of kind of what you are both offering and making sure that, you know, it’s, it’s a collaborative process and it’s 50, 50, because you’re both trying to express something about your brand or your artistic practice or your vision.
And that’s been consistent through the whole process of our collaboration. And that’s why I think, you know, it’s people couldn’t see the honesty in the collaboration. And I think that’s why I think it’s one. I think anyway, it’s won awards because you can sometimes see when brands with artists or designers, it could be more about the name of the artist or designer.
And it sometimes it just feels like it’s a copy and paste collaboration where you give them the artwork, they just stick it on your shoe or your whatever it is. And you can see it’s just another collaboration. So for me, when I work with brands, I sort of work out, is it just another collaboration or is it actually something that the world needs?
And I think the interior design world and textiles need this collaboration to happen.
AJ: Well, obviously, [00:13:00] because everyone is trying to find the bags and the scarves that they’re handing out. Luckily, I know people and I got one for myself. But let’s talk a little bit more about the collection. And you’re having to come up with designs for wall coverings, for fabrics.
How did you find your inspiration for this collection? Like, was it things that you had done in the past? Did you have to learn how to make things work on fabric while covering differently than, like, a basketball per hand? Yeah, yeah. Because you did design a basketball. I did.
Yinka: I did. I think, you know, one of the things I find quite fascinating is that loads of brands, uh, whether it’s textiles or graphic design, think, I’m a graphic designer.
And I’m not a graphic designer. And sometimes, you know, we get bids over people who are graphic design studios. But because of just, I’ve always been surrounded by graphics and illustrations from my parents and what they wore, it was quite natural for me to kind of move into that [00:14:00] space. So my process probably starts off by, you know, with an idea.
This was the first sketch that I sketched in my sketchbook. This, no, no, there’s actually another one, it was called, um, Dreamcatchers. And that was inspired by me experiencing my first dreamcatcher in a British countryside in Norfolk. And that formed the basis and the opening for all my illustrations. And that’s why the collection is really much inspired by dreams and collecting dreams, and supporting the idea of affirmation within interiors and textiles.
And that was how I started designing the colorways and all the other kind of themes within the collection.
AJ: I’m definitely taking the wrong supplements at night because my dreams don’t do that. I dream about, did the carpet install get in correctly? You know, things like that. That’s amazing that you’ve had kind of these visions and these ideas and you can translate it.
How do you actually do that? Is it on paper? Are you sketching? Are you using technology? Like, how do you actually get it out of your head? And into something else.
Yinka: So [00:15:00] it starts with a sketch. I have like, gosh, I mean like 30 sketchbooks. I just keep going through and just stack them up in my studio. And sometimes I might go back to the sketches to look at them or I might archive them.
But I sort of find that whenever I whenever I travel, it’s when I sketch the most when I’m on a plane, I’ve got no Wi Fi. I can’t call no one. It’s just music, my pen on my sketchbook. And I just produce ideas. And that’s what I love creating because no one’s bothering me from my studio. No one’s WhatsAppping me.
I can just focus on my work. But yeah, there’s a sketch, you know, me and my notebook, and then my team take the sketch. They sort of fine tune it for me onto Illustrator or Photoshop. And then I go back to look at the color palettes and the tones. And it’s just kind of back and forth, and then it’s fine tuning, sketching again.
And it’s just kind of endless of a sketch of back and forth between me and my team.
AJ: I love that, because I think sketching keeps your mind nimble. It does. Right? And it allows you, like, If you’ve heard the term, go take a line for a walk, [00:16:00] right? I haven’t actually,
Yinka: No. Yeah.
AJ: It’s like, just let the line go wherever it needs to go, and you might surprise yourself what comes up.
Is that kind of how your thinking is?
Yinka: What it is, yeah, it’s like, similar to how like, I think kids, like, you know, a baby, when you give a kid who is one or two, a paper and a pen, they’re going to just sketch and do whatever. They’re not thinking about the mistakes or the Coloring outside the lines. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Exactly. Exactly. And that’s kind of how I am when I’m sketching. I just have fun with it. I’m just free with the process and not thinking about something that’s going to be perfect because those imperfections are what actually creates the beauty in my illustrations is when I’m actually just enjoying it and just thinking out of the box.
AJ: So as interior designers, we really feel it’s our responsibility to Have people experience, hopefully positively, a space and even have a space be restorative to them, bring them into a different focus or a different [00:17:00] state of emotion. Were you thinking about those things? When you were designing these textiles and wall coverings, like what, what was your highest hope for this collection and how it could transform the built environment?
Yinka: I think, you know, when I, when I go into any space, I always think about what memory or experience do I want to get out of that space, whether it’s a pavilion I’m designing or a playground, which we do a lot of in London, is what can you take away from experiencing my sculpture or my pavilion, or The question or the sofa and for me, it was, it was simple as I wanted you to feel a sense of joy and a sense of connectivity with your audience or your friend or your family.
And that was the first thing I thought about is that how can we make a space or using interiors that can celebrate each other? And that was the idea and the basis of this collection.
AJ: Oh, my gosh, that’s amazing. I mean, really, it’s like I want to create a space that people feel joy. There’s no better purpose in life.
Honestly. Yeah. [00:18:00] Then to try and do something like that.
Yinka: I think with most of the biggest thing is always I think with most architects I think in particular I think they sometimes probably forget that people are the ones who actually breathe life into the space. So interior designers are so key to any projects because
AJ: Thank you for saying that.
Yinka: It’s true, it’s true. So I think those things are things I think about you know from the beginning is like what experience are you going to get from being in this space?
AJ: So You were a little hesitant to start this project.
Yinka: Yep. I was.
AJ: Now that you’re reflecting, now that you’ve won all these awards, and you are the belle of the ball at Neocon, what’s your take now when you reflect back on this project?
Like, would you’ve done anything differently? Would you, are you happy that you decided to take this leap of faith? When you reflect on it, I maybe even hadn’t, haven’t had a second to reflect on it, but what’s your feelings now?
Yinka: No, I think it’s definitely the right decisions I made, you know, to work on this collaboration because, you know, this is my first textile [00:19:00] range and it, and I, I’ve launched it in, in the us but I think for me, like the whole process has just been in a very much a collaborative process.
They’ve been very respectful of everything from photography to art directing, to styling, to everything has just been well thought out and, you know, everything is, is me, you know? So I’m really proud of the collaboration, proud of the world, has got to see it this week. And I hope that it is everywhere from interiors to exteriors and that people feel a sense of joy and hope that when they use it, you know, in, in, in, in their personal space or public space.
AJ: Okay. Besides textiles and wall covering, what has been your favorite thing to design?
Yinka: Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Um, a favorite thing to design. Do you know what? I’m only, I’m, I’m 37 and I feel like every day, like this, I feel like I’m sort of even like being here in the U. S. I feel like I’m sort of starting again. I feel like I’m sort of starting my [00:20:00] practice from when I was in my sort of early twenties because it’s a new audience, it’s a, I’m telling a new story, I’m using a new medium.
So I don’t think I’ve kind of, could answer that because I think, you know, I’ve designed footwear. I’m doing a fashion collection this year. I enjoy working across different mediums. But right now, if I’m living in this moment right now, it would be this collaboration.
AJ: Well, that’s a good choice too. We’ll let you have that as well.
It is super fun. Okay, are your parents proud of you?
Yinka: They are, yeah, yeah. It’s funny because, you know, growing up in London and your parents, you know, who are Nigerian, we had to either be like a doctor or engineer or a lawyer because they weren’t, they didn’t understand the world of design and So they always used to just think you were going to be, I was supposed to be an engineer.
That was what my parents said I was going to be.
AJ: I’m so happy you’re not a, or maybe it would have been amazing if he was an engineer and imagine the new bridges, how colorful they would be like, [00:21:00] it could have been really cool,
Yinka: but we’re happy
AJ: that you’re a designer.
Yinka: Thank you. Yeah. But they’re proud. Yeah.
There’s still sometimes. I don’t know what I really do, but you know, they, they, they get to kind of, you know, come to the shows and, but yeah, they’re proud. My family are proud.
AJ: Do you think they understand the impact that you’re having with all of these designs?
Yinka: I think yeah, uh, they do when we’re out in public and we go, we travel somewhere, someone might come up to me and be like, oh, you can come.
And they’re like, okay, well, like people like what you do. So I’m like, yeah, they do like what I do, mom. Um, so I think, yeah, I think, you know, they’ve been to my shows. They’ve traveled with me onto some of my open ends and yeah, they are proud.
AJ: Well, they should be. And if they’re not, call me and I will call them to explain how amazing you are.
So we’ve got a lot of young designers in our audience. If you had one piece of advice to give to a budding designer, whether they’re interior designer or product designer, it doesn’t matter. But what would be [00:22:00] your one piece of advice for someone starting out in this industry?
Yinka: I think for me it would be to trust the process.
People always ask me, how did I find my style or find my language? And I think it took years of kind of just researching and traveling and, you know, like really trusting the imperfections and the beauty of your work. We live in a world where everything’s coming at us really quickly, Instagram and Pinterest and social media, and you’re really kind of fed so much information and inspirations, you sometimes find yourself emulating something else.
And I try and block out all those things that I feel like are quite distracting for me. And that’s why I think my DNA is so distinct. So Yinka Lori, it’s because it’s my land and it’s my story. So I think, yeah, just kind of find your own voice and your own narrative. I don’t think that will always will set you apart from anyone else within the industry because there are so many Every year, you know new interior designers new architects new product designers.
It’s and they come quick [00:23:00] You know,
AJ: and it’s kind of a culture issue right now because the fifth year old of mine that’s running around the mart right now She’s handing out things for the hip awards, but I look at the things that they are watching on tik tok and They all want the exact same thing. Oh, it’s Stanley Muggs.
Oh, now it’s this certain kind of makeup. And now it’s this. And then when we go to London and we go to a remote part of England and we meet a young girl her same age who’s never seen an American ever before. Never. An American girl is like, I’ve never met an American girl. They love and follow the exact same things.
The culture, there’s no cultural difference. And I worry about that because it’s so like. Curated by manufacturers and almost manipulated and having how what’s your recommendation to get away from that so you can be in the space that can have true creation, right?
Yinka: Yeah, I think it’s about trying to find your design community.
So [00:24:00] people who think, you know, like you or ideas like you. I have a small group of friends in London who are for me like visionaries and what they do and why they The idea is they want to, you know, create and put out into the world. So I kind of keep myself surrounded by people who are grounded and people who travel around the world and want to change the world of design because I think as interior designers and designers we wear, our role is to, I think, is to change the world and make people feel good in what, in what we do.
AJ: I agree with you a hundred percent. Yinka, this has been amazing. Thank you. Thank you so much for this private audience. And really excited to have you. Here on our podcast. Is there any closing remarks you would like to share with those remarks?
Yinka: Yes I’m not sure. I’ll just probably say, you know, just enjoy neocon And hopefully you find something that really does inspire you and keep dreaming.
Yeah. That’s all I would say. Thank you so much.
AJ: Thank you. Follow [00:25:00] Momentum at Momentum underscore textiles underscore walls and Yinka Ilori at Momentum. Yinka underscore Ilori on Instagram, and check out the new collection at Momentum’s website at MomentumTextilesAndWalls. com. Once Upon a Project was produced by Surround, a podcast network by Sandow.
Special thanks to our producer, Hannah Viti. Thanks for listening, and I can’t wait for you to hear our next story.
