If you don’t already know Eva Sonaike, you’ll absolutely want to. She’s a pattern-mixing wizard and the creative force behind her eponymously named business - one of the leading African-inspired interior textile companies in the world.
We sat down with Eva to learn about her journey from journalist to textile designer, her creative heroes and why West Africa will always be an eternal source of inspiration.
Please tell us about your journey from journalist to designer?
ES: From an early age, I have always been obsessed with interior design and especially the decorating part of spaces. I remember the joy of decorating my doll's house when I was a little girl and rearranging and painting my room as a teenager.
Despite my love for design, I pursued a career in fashion journalism, which is related and worked here in London as a correspondent for German Elle and InStyle for several years.
When I was looking for items for my new apartment and couldn’t find decor items that spoke to me and represented me and my cross-cultural upbringing (Germany and Nigeria) I started a small collection of cushions with African wax fabric that I sourced in markets in West Africa. The collection was beautiful and I found so much joy in the creation of the cushions, that I set up a little company alongside my fashion career.
And as it goes, someone knew someone who knew a buyer at Selfridges and within the first season of launching my cushions were bought by Selfridges. Liberty and Fenwick followed shortly and I knew that my little business had commercial viability, so after careful consideration, I quit my full-time fashion job, started designing all our textiles myself and built the company into one of the leading African-inspired interior textile companies in the word.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
ES: All my inspiration comes from the West African way of life - the colours, the fashion, architecture, the way we celebrate, dance, interact and live. I was brought up in Germany, which culturally could not be more different than Nigeria. So whenever I am ‘home’ in West Africa, I am like a sponge absorbing all the influences and vibes, that are then reflected into my designs.
Your work is a celebration of pattern and colour. What’s your process for mixing patterns and building palettes?
ES: Funnily enough, I watched a video of a Nigerian filmmaker, who documented a large Yoruba (West African cultural group) festival. The colours and patterns of the participants wouldn’t match in a logical sense, but they match perfectly.
As a West African woman, I don’t think too much about mixing patterns and palettes, but work from my heart and it works (at least I hope so).
For every collection I have one or two colour palettes in mind and I spend time playing around which what I feel works to create the palette. But when it comes to the sampling and printing process, I fine tune and adapt the colours to perfect them for the final product.
And with patterns it is similar. I have a story for each collection (the journalist in me) and I build the patterns around that story. The only rule is to not mix and match shapes, so if I have a story that fits a more circular pattern design, I wouldn’t mix this with geometric patterns for symmetry.
Who are your creative heroes?
ES: Chief Nike Davies-Okundaye is a Nigerian textile artist, artist and philanthropist. Very different to my style, but I like Olivier Rousteing, his drive ambition and talent are very inspiring to me.
What’s your most treasured possession?
ES: Oh, that’s such a difficult question. I would say my gold and moonstone ring, which my Dad designed for my 21st birthday.
The best advice you've ever been given, and who gave it to you?
ES: Don’t worry about anything instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. (Philippians 4:6)
Best city in the world, and why?
ES: Can I list two, please? Actually three… Lagos, London and New York!
Career highlight to date?
ES: Everything has been great! I am just grateful for being able to make my passion my profession, so the lows are all relative. But one of the major highlights was the collaboration with Soho Home.
Favourite books on the studio shelf?
Contemporary Design Africa by Tapiwa Matsinde Wild at Home by Hilton Carter
What would be your dream project?
ES: I would love to work on an Eva Sonaike boutique hotel featuring our fabrics and furnishings, as well as items from other African artists and designers and a selection of African antiques.
