The designer has launched a 40-piece furniture and homeware range for high-street retailer Dunelm
It’s Ilori’s first full furniture and homeware collection, and it’s a big one: chairs, sofas, rugs, beds, lighting and cushions, with prices starting at £9 for a hand towel and running up to £799 for a king-size boucle ottoman bed.
The British-Nigerian designer built it around 1960s and ’70s nostalgia, drawing on the eclectic mix of colours and textiles he associates with his own upbringing and with Leicester, the city where Dunelm began life as a market stall in 1979. Tubular steel frames, oak veneer and plush upholstery nod to that era throughout, while Ilori’s signature floral motifs turn up across the soft furnishings, including a lace-inspired bedding print referencing national flowers from countries that shaped Leicester’s textile industry.
The range includes five chairs, marking a return to furniture design for Ilori, who started his career designing seating before becoming known for colourful public pavilions and collaborations with brands including The North Face and MB&F. He’s called the seating design “chunky but comfortable,” playing with scale to make a statement. Beyond the chairs, the collection includes an oak-veneer sideboard, a calabash-inspired lamp, a mushroom table lamp, and a run of rugs, curtains and cushions.
Ilori, who takes over from Sophie Robinson as Dunelm’s collaborator of choice, said accessibility was the point: he wanted the range priced for people to actually buy, not just look at. The launch also marks the start of a three-year partnership between Ilori and Dunelm, with more interior and outdoor pieces to follow.
Key Information
Dates | Online and in selected stores now
For more information | dunelm
