A new wardrobe for the home

SWEDISH HOME-FURNISHINGS maker Ikea has collaborated with London-based menswear designer Katie Eary on a playful, eye-catching collection of tableware and textiles in the colourful, bold patterns for which she’s famous for.

“We can all learn a lot from fashion designers and the fashion industry,” says Henrik Most, Ikea’s “range specialist and creative leader”.

“The world of fashion really has its antennas out. It takes in what’s happening in the world around us and then interprets that in what we wear, and then that spreads to all kinds of businesses and areas of society, including home furnishings.”

The result is the Giltig collection, one of Ikea’s first collaborations with fashion designers in a bid to see what fashion might bring to home furnishings. The concept is “Throwing a dinner party”. Aprons, shopping bags, cushions, fabric, dinnerware and lampshades take on a strong and colourful street style.

The new look for Ikea is thanks to Eary as well as the production process and technique she used to create the designs. Digital printing is more complex that conventional printing since it demands a careful attention to get the nuances of colours and pixels right.

Eary’s creations are often described as “glamorous streetwear”, though she herself prefers descriptions such as “in your face” and “too much”. She lives and works out of her home in east London, which is full of colourful, quirky objects and art books by British contemporary artists who have shaped her approach and her work.

Here Eary shares her views on fashion meeting home furnishing.

 

IS LONDON A BIG INSPIRATION FOR YOU?

Oh yes, definitely. London is and has always been at the forefront of fashion, especially when it comes to streetwear. There seems to be this constant wave of excitement, and you never know what’s going to come out next. Every 10 years there’s a big new wave – mods, punk, new romantics, rave, indie and so forth. I can’t get enough of London.

 

WHAT ELSE INSPIRES YOU?

I think it’s important to have a muse. I have three younger brothers and all of them are different, but they’re all so cool and they are my muses. I know them inside out. When I design clothes I think about them – what would they wear – and I always ask for their opinion. I’m also a ’90s girl. I can’t get away from it. It’s everything I know.

 

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY A ’90S GIRL?

Everything – the films, the music and the art that came out of that decade: Blur, Massive Attack, Portishead, the director Larry Clark – all of that, I love it so much.

 

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR STYLE?

“In your face”. I always make the reference to contemporary art, especially the Saatchi exhibition in 1995 with the YBAs [Young British Artists] Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas. There was too much colour, overt sexuality, dead animals everywhere. It turned everything upside down and you walked away with a feeling of love or hate. That’s the feeling I want to emulate in my work. 

 

AND NOW YOU’VE DESIGNED A COLLECTION FOR IKEA. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

Ikea contacted me to do a textile collection for the modern man, and for me it was perfect. I’m a menswear designer, but I also love furniture and home objects, so I immediately felt, “Yes I can do something here.” I started thinking, “What do modern men do?”

All my male friends have these cook-offs – who can cook the best steak, who has the best stuff, the most knowledge – and they’re all showing off. So I felt that the kitchen was a good place to start. I also thought about their houses – what does it look like, do they offer drinks, what type of glasses? It’s about walking through the house, and having a dinner party with plates and tableware.

 

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE PROCESS AND YOUR EXPERIENCE DEVELOPING THE COLLECTION?

I collected images of everything I love in the home, as well as what I felt men would be attracted to. I’m a print-based designer, so obviously this was going to be a print-based collection – one that turns all the senses up.

 

YOU’RE KNOWN FOR WORKING IN DIGITAL PRINT. WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT IT?

Digital print is photo-real. What you see on the screen is what you’re going to see on the products, and you can literally print on anything. Two-dimensional print is just so basic and boring to me. The idea of creating something amazing onscreen and knowing it’s going to look the same when you put it on a product is very appealing to someone like me. I want the colour to make the eyes hurt, that’s what I always say.

 

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF DIGITAL PRINTING?

Getting the resolution of everything correct. You don’t want it to be pixelated. You want a clear, clean image, and that can be quite a challenge.

 

HAVE YOU VISITED THE HOME OF IKEA IN ALMHULT, SWEDEN?

Oh, yes. It was fascinating because I got to see what’s going to be launched in 2017. I didn’t realise how far in advance furniture is designed. In fashion we do everything one year ahead, but for home furnishings the lead times are crazy.

But I also felt there is so much you can do, so I just want to move on to the next collection. There are so many boundaries to break still.

 

WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO THINK AND FEEL WHEN THEY SEE THE GILTIG COLLECTION?

I want them to absolutely love it. I want people to get excited and feel they just need to have everything in it, not out of necessity or for the function, but because it’s so different and so cool. I’m so excited to bring a bit of vibrancy into people’s homes.

 

FINALLY, WHAT IS A GOOD HOME ACCORDING TO KATIE EARY?

Somewhere where you can go in and you just feel really comfortable. It’s not about having lots of flashy things. It’s about having things that complement your personality. When you walk into a home, it’s like you’re walking into that person’s brain.

 

GILTIG PLEASURE

The Giltig collection is now available at Ikea at Mega Bangna.

For more, check www.Ikea.co.th.