Yukari Sweeney is the creative dynamo of Yukari Sweeneny Designs and produces bespoke wallpaper, lampshades and fabrics.  As her designs are being stocked exclusively at Garrendenny Lane (within Ireland) we decided to interview Yukari to share her background, inspirations and design secrets with you.

You used to work in fashion, why did you decide to turn to interiors?

I don’t think there is a line between fashion and interiors anymore. I love to have  pretty shoes and I also love pretty cushions  for example. The shoes help me to feel good when I go out, the  cushions helps me to relaxwhen I stay in.

I enjoyed working in an industry that provided people with things that would help them when they went out, I wanted to look into the things that would create happiness when they are indoors. but can’t cut my ties to fashion  entirely,  I like to incorporate  items such as corsages or printed linings to simple silk lampshades.

Where do you find the inspirationfor your designs?

I do get inspired by  anything – my surroundings such as when I walk my dog in the park. I love feeling the change of the seasons.   My ” hide and seek” design was from a little path in Greenwich Park where I saw little birds hopping about.

I like visiting flea  markets in many different places and I look for for little surprises. Old equestrian theme prints are my favorite and have provided the inspiration for a few designs.

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I like to see things in the dark, it sounds strange but when I walk my dog in the dusk, everything looks simpler with less detail,as I can just see the outline, for example, I can  see the shape of a tree which is beautiful and the strong outline of a building, I find this really inspiring.

Describe the style of your beautiful designs.

I would describe them as old fashioned but with a little bit of a humorous or quirky edge to it. Also I like to have a little  feeling of imperfection to my products.  I like hand printed fabrics  because they always have little imperfections that add warmth and individuality to my designs.

You use the seasons to influence your colourways and also to give names to your designs, can you explain the reasoning and effect of this?

I was born and raised in Japan.  There, we have four very defined seasons. I have very strong emotions and empathy with each season, so for me it is avery simple and effective way to create colourways represent those  seasons.
My father taught us how to celebrate each season in a traditional way such as New Year’s preparation, cherry blossom viewing, bathing in  “shobu(iris) bath” on children’s day and moon viewing.  We were encouraged to  appreciate nature and see its beauty and diversity.

The colours are very important to me and I like to use a traditional  Japanese Edo period palette; I like their muted tones and they each have their own name, something that interests me immensely.  There  are many beautiful names, such as Akebono-dawn sky pink, Danjurou  cha – brown which is named after popular Kabuki actor’s name, and Aokuchiba - fallen leaf green.  However, I don’t use old fashioned Japanese words  like those, I enjoy putting little different name to my own colours.

When I first heard your name, I presumed your father was Irish but in fact, you are married to an Irishman, do you think his Irishness has  influenced any of your designs?  Or is it a mix of Japan/London/America?

I have to say mix of everything. My husband was born in Scotland, but  his parents are from Ireland ( Monaghan and Donegal). I have never been to Ireland but I have been in Scotland a few times, my favorite place is Glencoe. It is the most beautiful place on the planet.
My mother always says to me ” be a traveler wherever you are, then  you can enjoy everything there including bad things, also that gives you true identity”. (She lives in USA). It has worked on me so far.

Your cushions are beautiful. Are your fabrics also available in bigger lengths, eg. for curtains?

Yes we have found a good manufacturer recently.   We can now supply lengths of  fabrics for every designs.   In addition, we can provide bespoke fabrics as well, for example, patterns on just the hemline of curtains.

Tell me about Sammy, your sausage dog.

Sammy was one of the dogs in the local stable where I go riding  every Sunday. Sammy was a very furious dog, I used to be scared of him.  When we began to organize our press packs for our Maison et Objet show, he came up in conversation and we thought it would be nice to have him as our mascot.

We made a prototype Sammy with off cut fabrics, then we realized just  how cute Sammy looked made up of all those mismatched off-cuts, and  for us that also promoted an environmentally friendly outlook as well because we wouldn’t be wasting anything.  We also donate a little money to the animal rescue group every time we  sell a Sammy.

Tell us about the new designs you are working on.

I am working on a new collection called ” English Rose”.   It has a very English theme such as horse riding, the queen’s guard, gun dogs and roses.   What is ” So English” to me?  Well, horses, the countryside, hunting,horse races, afternoon teas, icecream in a beach hut. I want to have those English beauties particularly animals along with roses in my designs.�
I will include tweed ( Scottish) and linen( Irish) as a material.

I have also been working on ” Greenwich park ” wallpaper. I go to Greenwich park with my dog almost everyday, it is a most beautiful place.  Since they are making some changes to the park because of the  Olympics, I love to “record” everything I love.  It is a work in progress.

And here at Garrendenny Lane, we are delighted that Yukari Sweeney Designs are available exclusively with us and you can see more here.

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