Yukari Sweeney – Lady of the Manor

Yukari Sweeney is the creative force behind Yukari Sweeney Design – producing bespoke wallpapers and home furnishings. 

We fell in love with Yukari’s beautiful design style when we came across her Spotlight feature on www.designerproductsonline.com

Yukari has had a fascinating career (including working for Paul Smith) and today, in conversation with Victoria Redshaw, Yukari reveals all:

VR: When you lived in Japan which Fashion Houses did you work for and what did your roles involve?

YS: I worked for Hysteric Glamour’s retail company, ‘Seditionaries’, and was in charge of new shop openings (including deciding the location and the balance of items sold), interviewing prospective employees and was also responsible for corporate events such as new collection after-parties.

VR: What made you make the decision to move from Japan to England?

YS: I met my husband who was giving a hairdressing seminar in Japan at that time whilst he was visiting from Scotland, and around that time I was designing the layouts for a new store opening. Although I enjoyed my work at that time, I wanted to get the feel of a completely different culture to the one in Japan; for me, Europe seemed the best place to start, seeing as I had family in America, and going to the UK would give me a great new experience unlike anything in Japan. All I knew at that time about England was that Vivienne Westwood, Paul Smith and British Airways all came from there! So I was curious to see the reality.

VR: When you set up your own company, Yukari Sweeney Design, why did you choose to focus on designs for Home products rather than Fashion?

YS: As I have worked in the fashion industry, I found that you can pretend to be somebody else with your look or fashion outside your house- high heels and expensive clothes can make you into someone you are not. But in your own house you want to recharge so you can go on to pretend another day- so your home environment is very important to help you relax and enjoy your own time without makeup or expensive shoes. Both things may be very important, but I wanted to produce something more honest. After working in an industry that provided people with things that would help them on the outside, I wanted to look into the things that would create happiness on the inside. Since I can’t cut out my fashion roots entirely, I like to incorporate small things like oversized corsages or printed linings on simple silk lampshades, sometimes even using vintage ribbons on my products every time I get the chance to.

VR: Tell us about your design work for Anthropologie?

YS: My design for Anthropologie was called ‘Lady of the Manor’ and was included in one of my collections at the New Designers’ Show. It features a manor house, foxes, bloodhounds and horses set in the English countryside on a heritage green background. I got the inspiration for this ‘heritage’ green backdrop from old paintings hung on manor house walls that I visited. That typical ‘English’ feel appealed to Anthropologie’s design team, and they made a very beautiful wallpaper from it:

VR: You have worked with the team at Paul Smith…how did this inspire your design work?

YS: I worked in the men’s print department at Paul Smith and I still remember my first day in their beautiful building; I was very nervous and in a way quite intimidated by the people working in there! But quite soon after that I realized that there was no need to feel that way because the people there were very friendly. In their studio I found so many interesting things, like all their old picture books or boxes full of vintage fabrics and old plates and record sleeves found in flea markets, and my boss told me how to use all those resources to expand your design abilities without simply copying them. I also learned how to incorporate computers into my work, as beforehand I was scared of using them- the idea was very daunting and she showed me how it could help me more.

YS continues: Now I produce my wallpaper via digital printing, this gives me a lot of colourway option for my clients. Also I have been hand printing my designs as much as possible, because it is very important to keep a personal touch and hand made feeling to my design. Paul Smith is a big company, but their designs have a “hand made” feeling, a little warmth. Those feelings I really want to have in my designs.

VR: How would you describe your style and what inspires you?

YS: In a way my style is old fashioned with a little bit of a humorous kick to it. Also I like to have a little feeling of imperfection to my products.  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 quite a lot. I use that sort of ethos with my own colours; naming them is very enjoyable. I suppose I get my inspiration from anything- my surroundings when I walk my dog in the park, feeling the change of the seasons, as well as visiting flea markets in as many different places that I can looking for little surprises all contribute to my influences.

YS continues: Because my colour ways are always based on the four seasons, it creates a very simple way to help me decide the colours I can provide to my clients. Recently I have found that kimonos have a very clever way of balancing out and co-ordinating their varied use of colours and patterns in a way that isn’t garish or in-your-face.  There are also strict rules of seasonable patterns of kimonos, and some have meanings to them which mean they can only be worn during certain times of the year.

VR: Tell us about your mascot Sammy the Sausage Dog!

YS: There was a sausage dog called Sammy who had appointed himself chief guard dog of the local stables that my daughter and I go to. 

Although we were both quite scared of him, we became very fond of him eventually and when we began to organize our press packs for our Maison et Object show, he came up in conversation and we thought it would be nice to have him as our own guard dog!

When we began to experiment with the idea of having Sammy as our company’s mascot, instead of using calico we used the leftover scraps of fabric that we had piled up in a big basket; after a while, 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- we wouldn’t be wasting anything, we’d be creating something instead. We also donate to animal rescue centres whenever we sell a Sammy dog.

VR: I believe you are currently working on a Hair Salon commission in Japan…..how is the project going?

YS: After the Maison et Object show, Borjan approached me with her new hairdressing salon’s plan to have my wallpaper designs and fabrics.  Japanese people aren’t familiar with using wallpaper, so although she wanted to have mine, she wasn’t sure how to use it, so I suggested making a feature wall or using them in panels, and now her designer is working on that.  Her salon is in the resort area of Okinawa, so she wants to have a slightly more European feel to her salon as a change from the other ‘resort’ salons around the area.

VR: Do you plan to extend your Home range to include more products in the future in addition to wallpaper, pillows and lampshades?

YS: Yes, we are currently working on tableware, furnishing fabrics as well as giving Sammy a girlfriend, a slightly larger and heavier girl called Lola, who will be acting as a door stopper. Also, my mother collects aprons, so I felt it was about time to make my own to go in her collection!

VR: What are your future aspirations for your business?

YS: It’s been my dream to open a café for a long time, and I would love to be able to show my work in that environment; not only would it give people the opportunity to see my work but also to show them how to use it; we can also see how practical and durable they are, and as a result carry on producing the things that really work. I also like meeting people and owning a cafe would give me that kind of chance. I think it would be really great if I could have that sot of place to extend my business little by little according to people’s needs and in a more hands on sort of way and carrying on trying to produce good quality products.

To visit Yukari Sweeney’s website and learn more about her work go to:

www.yukarisweeney-design.com

Yukari Sweeney Design is also featured on:

http://www.designerproductsonline.com/Databases/Profiles/yukarisweeney.htm