Western Living Magazine
Reimagine Remodelling with Kitchen Canvas
Protected: Merit Kitchens Presents: Urban Cool Meets West Coast Warmth
Finalists Announced: HAVAN Professionals Inspire
Recipe: Easy Peanut Noodles with Chicken and Veggies
One of BC’s Best Wineries Is Having a Bonkers Sale
Recipe: Balsamic Strawberry Sponge Cake from Oh Sweet Day
I Had the Best Nap of My Life in an Anti-Gravity Pod
Editors’ Picks: The Best Trips We Took in 2022
Victoria Might Just Be the Perfect Pre-New Year’s Getaway
La Cornue Brings Colour and Beauty to Your Luxury Kitchen
The Future of Beauty: How One Medical Aesthetics Clinic is Changing the Game
Trending Now: The Best New Furniture and Homewares for Spring
Designers of the Year 2023: These Are Your Fashion Design Judges
Designers of the Year 2023: Introducing Our Furniture Design Category Judges
Designers of the Year 2023: Meet Your Maker Judges
The Indigenous designer behind Winnipeg's Indigo Arrows is bringing traditional patterns into modern spaces.
Anishinaabe interior designer Destiny Seymour spent her first decade in the industry working on commercial projects built for education and community (think university housing, libraries and daycare centres). But as she curated textiles and furniture for each space, Seymour struggled to find the right materials.
There werent any fabrics that represented the history of Manitoba, and Indigenous people, in a respectful way, remembers the Winnipeg-based designer. The Manitoba Museum is full of pottery, stoneware and bone tools crafted by Indigenous makersbut that's all behind glass. So Seymour took her first screen-printing class.
In 2016, the designer launched her first Indigo Arrows collection: a series of tea towels and pillows printed with patterns inspired by Indigenous artifacts. Each piece has an Anishinaabemowin name (the Bezhig pillow, for example, means number one, and the motif comes from a 400-year-old elk antler scraper).
Now she's expanded to drum stools, quilts and greeting cards; a collaboration with another Manitoban company, Freed, was picked up by Urban Barn last fall.
Despite her studio's growth, all of her products are still crafted in Winnipeg. To see Indigenous designs at such a large scale, and to be able to purchase them in a retail store, is really important, says Seymour. When I was in school, I didnt see any Indigenous designers in magazines. The goal is for us to be celebrated and to see ourselves represented, not just in a museum. Mission accomplished.
MORE PILLOW TALK: Vancouver Textile Artist Tafui McLean’s Soft Art
Are you over 18 years of age?