Fulani Chair

By TheUrbanative: Mpho Vackier

Charred American red oak; water-based sealer

Designed to form an extension of TheUrbanative’s 2018 African Crowns Collection, The Fulani Chair in American red oak was initially launched and manufactured in steel, and so Mpho Vackier, founder of the studio, set out to, “…simply have fun with the material aspect of the brief”, she says, and reimagine an already existing design. The lines of TheUrbanative’s Fulani chair design are inspired by the forms of the traditional Fulani braids and coiffures worn by the Fulani or Fula people, who make up the ethnic group in the Sahel and West Africa. The textures of the braided Fulani hairstyles further inspired the weaving detail and the ombre effect in the chair’s finishing, achieved by charring the timber in an ‘ombre’  affect and sealing the chair to preserve the wood.

“We aspire to be a brand that not only celebrates stories but one that respects the way in which we tell those stories,” says Vackier. “But I think more than anything the exploration of a new material is always exciting for me. My approach to most of my work is always guided by the chosen material, the properties and limits thereof, and letting the material have a say in the final piece. So using materials like American red oak that are truly sustainable is not only logical but very necessary for us to do justice to the authentic essence of those stories.”