One of several new V&A acquisitions set to go on display at V&A East Museum from 18 April 2026 is a chair by London-based designer Yinka Ilori. Captain Hook (2015) is one of five chairs that Yinka Ilori created as part of the If Chairs Could Talk series in 2015. They were all created as tributes to childhood friends, responding to the Yoruban proverb ‘No matter how long the neck of the giraffe, it still can’t see the future’. Before the chair goes on display, we headed to Yinka’s London studio with photographer Lewis Khan to capture it in his unique and colourful working space.
The If Chairs Could Talk seres was inspired by Martino Gamper’s project, 100 chairs in 100 days, and started as part a design school brief to source and redesign old chairs. Yinka found this particular chair in a charity shop in Tottenham Hale. He then painted it with bright and high-gloss blue colour and upholstered it with a seat pad made from Dutch wax textile, bought at Dalston market in east London. He added a hook to the back of the chair, symbolising how his childhood friend was ‘left hanging’ by the adults around them during a difficult time. Visitors can see Captain Hook on display at V&A East Museum, when it opens on 18 April 2026
Photographs by Lewis Khan. Additional text and research by Johanna Agerman Ross and Zofia Trafas White
