Saskia Neacsu

“We wanted to create something that had presence,” notes Claire Rizzi, Design Director of YOO Studio London, of Tembo, a contemporary bathware collection developed in collaboration with apaiser. Taking its name from the Swahili word for elephant, the collection draws on the animal’s “rounded mass, gentle curves and stability” as subtle reference.

There is a moment in the august film Out of Africa when the plane skims low over the savannah, the grass moving like water beneath it and giraffes casting long shadows in the late-afternoon light. Nearly forty years on, that spellbinding image remains one of the most persuasive advertisements for safari ever filmed. To this day, its haunting portrayal of Africa continues to stir a longing to experience the natural world in its purest form. Yet that desire is not confined to the continent alone.