YOUNG DESIGN TALENT OF THE YEAR
The ‘Iklwa’ chair is an impressive item. With its high back, constructed so as to empower those who sit in it, and arms and legs reminiscent of spears, it’s no surprise that the throne-like piece has caused a stir in the design world. As indeed has its creator, Mac Collins, who since his graduation from Northumbria University in 2018 has been making waves with his Afro-futurist forms that draw heavily on his own African-Caribbean and European heritage. Named after the Zulu thrusting spear, the original ‘Iklwa’ chair presented at his graduation show was a vivid blue inspired by the suit Collins’s grandfather wore when he arrived in England, while the construction takes its influence from Scandinavian design. ‘The project was an exploration of my own identity and lineage,’ said Collins, speaking to ELLE Decoration last year. ‘It was in response to discoveries about my heritage and became an investigation into how a design could evoke certain feelings.’
So striking in fact is ‘ Iklwa’, that it won the Belmond Award at New Designers 2018, and Hole & Corner magazine’s inaugural Cræftiga Award, for which Benchmark furniture’s MD and co-founder Sean Sutcliffe was a judge. It was this interaction that led to Collins’ collaboration with the brand, which has seen ‘Iklwa’ developed into a consumer collection. Featuring the original chair, a smaller scale seat to suit more compact spaces and a side table, the pieces are available in a classic Scandi white oil and a warm orange, synonymous with clay tones found in sub-Saharan Africa. Launched in October 2020, it’s already gaining global recognition.
Alongside his design work, as a member of the steering committee of Design Can, a platform promoting diversity in design, Collins is committed to making the industry more inclusive. ‘I’d like to see changes such as more opportunities and exposure for people from different backgrounds and genders,’ he says. ‘The representation of BAME and women designers is still disproportionate within major roles in the industry, and this needs to be rectified.’ (maccollins.com)