Q&A: Soraia Andersen of InColour Designs

When the Retail Bulletin team visited the Top Drawer design-led retail exhibition a couple of weeks ago, we discovered a host of exciting new brands. Here we have a quick chat with Soraia Andersen, founder of start-up luxury homewares brand InColour Designs.

Tell us about your career prior to founding InColour Designs

I’m a fine artist specialising in geometric abstraction through a painting, drawing and collage art practice.

What led you to set up the business? 

I fell in love with luxury retail very early on whilst being trained by Harrods at 17 to work for Royal Selangor in the Silver Room.

I wanted to bring the two great loves of my life, art and luxury retail, together to create something new. InColour Designs was born out of that desire. Through a marriage of traditional luxury retail with contemporary abstract art, InColour Designs is the bridge that brings these two very different worlds together.

What were the main challenges you faced? 

Money. Yes I know you’re not supposed to speak about money. However, anyone that has ever started a new business, especially in the luxury sector, will tell you that money and cash flow as a start-up are truly challenging. For a brand like mine where sustainability is a must, this is even more of a challenge.

What inspires you when creating your designs? 

Mark making, colour and shape. The designs start out as traditional ink and pen drawings which are inspired by my art practice. They are then transferred into a digital format before being transformed into stunning luxury objects.

Tell us more about your focus on “conscious luxury”? 

Sustainability and awareness of the issues that we face today are of paramount importance to me. I want to create value and be of service in people’s lives but only in conditions that serve both people and the environment.

Your background in luxury has obviously stood you in good stead. How have you transferred the skills and knowledge gained to your own business? 

I started out so young that quality, attention to detail and perfectionism has really been ingrained into me and everything I do; the business is a great opportunity to bring all that I have learnt not just from the luxury sector but also from the world of art, to life and make good use of my extensive and diverse skillset attained in both worlds.

At present you only sell online. Would you ever consider setting up a physical store? 

Yes! This is definitely part of my business plan for the next five years. And I’m already keeping an eye out for the perfect spot, just in case.

Can you tell us about any other plans for InColour Designs? And what do you regard as the main challenges and opportunities over the next two to three years? 

As a new brand, awareness is absolutely key, so I’m planning more trade and retail shows and some pop-up shops to really get the brand out there. At the moment my main focus is on getting stockists for the brand as well as looking into growing the business abroad, particularly in Europe and the USA.

“My biggest challenge at the moment is Brexit – all my objects are handmade in the UK, making it particularly difficult to export them to Europe.”