We speak to Mr. Bhanu Inkawat, co-founder of Greyhound Original on the SAMMANKOPPLA collection, the brand’s collaboration with Swedish home retail giant IKEA that aspires to introduce Thai sensibilities and Southeast Asian lifestyle to the world over.
Unlike any other collaborations, one that’s associated with colossal home retail brand IKEA is a big deal for any designer or anyone, as a matter of fact. Known for its collaborative nature — including past ventures with Off-White’s Virgil Abloh, Lego, Adidas and Solange Knowles — Ikea has chosen someone closer to home to work together with for its latest drop, the SAMMANKOPPLA collection.
Developed with Thai fashion designers Greyhound Original, SAMMANKOPPLA is a limited collection of products that blends Bangkok street style with IKEA’s home furnishing expertise. Combining that with Greyhound’s playful and relaxed attitude with a twist, the collaboration has birthed a series of fun yet functional pieces that add character to living spaces.
SAMMANKOPPLA means ‘interconnect’ or ‘unify’ in Swedish. It combines the spirit of Bangkok street style or modern Asian lifestyle with IKEA’s Scandinavian codes, which can be summed up as a story comprising cultures of east and west.
And if you don’t already know, the Greyhound story started in the 1980s when four friends with a passion for living well decided to open a clothes store together. A brand synonymous to the city of Bangkok, the label has expanded its reach to Hong Kong, Shanghai and London. Greyhound has also delved into the food business with its eponymous Greyhound Cafe all over the world.
Onto the collection, it has a sense of vibrancy that’s paired with everyday objects that we see in everyday life. It is unassuming, yet brimming with character. In the spirit of weaving the Thai narrative into Scandinavian sensibility, we dig deeper into the SAMMANKOPPLA collection with co-founder of Greyhound Original, Mr. Bhanu Inkawat.
To begin with, we were tasked to approach the collection with an open problem-solving mindset. It needed to be multifunctional and ideal for small space living. As such, we drew inspiration from recycling, reusing, and creative re-purposing processes. On top of that, we were also influenced by Bangkok, a city where anything goes, and imperfection can be perfect.
As such, much of the collection features bold patterns inspired by the city’s urban landscape and Greyhound’s graphic fashion sensibilities. For instance, the houndstooth design that appears on the bags from the SAMMANKOPPLA collection is frequently found in traditional Thai weaving – but for the bags in this collection, it is made using modern materials. This is a simple example and reflection of our brand essence and core value for the past 40 years which is ‘basic with a twist’.
Unfortunately, we are not a home furnishing designers so when it came to the process of designing the collection, we faced different obstacles such as determining dimensions, ensuring the functionality of the product, and also, assessing if it is strong and durable enough. Aside from that, like the majority of home furnishing solutions by IKEA, the item has to be flat-packed meaning it must have the ability to be knocked down and reassembled again – this was also one of the challenges we faced.
Taking those challenges into account, it was great that we were able to work hand in hand with IKEA as both brands supported each other with their own expertise – we applied Thai lifestyle into the collection and then turned to the IKEA team who sketched out the home furnishing solutions. For Greyhound Original, it was not just designing a piece of furniture but rather, a lifestyle product.
Greyhound loves basic, simple things in life and at the same time, we believe that simplicity does not have to be boring. We mix art and creativity in everything which ultimately helps us to make simple life creatively pleasurable. This translates to our brand essence – ‘basic with a twist’. This SAMMANKOPPLA collection is based on the concept of ‘SABAI SABAI’ – ‘Truly Thai’s Way of Life’. The products from this collection are developed based on the everyday Thai style however, we looked at things with a twist and chose to present the products, designs, and patterns in a “new way”. In addition to that, we also worked closely with IKEA to identify creative and sustainable ways that ensured the products were designed to be multifunctional and affordable – making it ideal to be used by people all over the world.
Just like fashion, we believe it is all about mixing and match the collection with items people already have in their homes. For instance, the flatwoven rug available in bright and bold colours can be used to add some liveliness to a certain living space. Aside from that, to change the look and feel of your chairs, the hoodie chair cover adds a new style to your home – it even comes with added pockets to store your TV remote, phone, tablet and so on.
Since we are introducing a Thai Street style, “floor living” is familiar and normal in Asia but not in the western world. For Greyhound Original, this is something we want to share with the rest of the world, even more so for those who are living in small or limited spaces. With a floor mat (flatwoven rug) and the triangular cushion, people can easily create new spaces to rest and relax within their homes. With that, we are pleased that items from this collection can easily introduce and share the concept of “floor living” with the rest of the world.
Through SAMMANKOPPLA and the worldwide reach that IKEA has, it is a great opportunity for us to introduce contemporary Thai lifestyle to the world. Many people often remember lifestyle as it presents a certain charm and uniqueness which many people often fall in love with. In this tough time during a pandemic, we hope the items from this collection puts a smile, colour, happiness as well as freshness to people’s home. We hope people across the world – from Malaysia to Japan, Los Angeles to South America and beyond, can add one or two pieces of the Thai culture and lifestyle to their homes.
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Written by
Martin Teo
Editor-in-Chief
Martin has a soft spot for art and architecture, fashion and food history. When embracing his spirit-ual side, he finds himself switching between a Negroni and an Old Fashioned, especially after a long week. His day is never complete without time at the gym and three cups of coffee — flat white with oat milk, no less.
