A WIP look at Ikea's collaboration with Virgil Abloh
Ikea
It’s a big week for Ikea. Tomorrow at Protein Studios, Shoreditch, It’s Nice That teams up with the mega brand on a panel to discuss The future of design: how personalisation is on the rise for the mass audience. But for today at least, all eyes are on the brand for a different reason: a collaboration with artist director of Louis Vuitton menswear, Virgil Abloh.
It is not the furniture brand’s first foray into fashion. Not long after Balenciaga “borrowed” its signature yellow-and-blue Frakta bag, Off White’s Virgil Abloh remade the bag in cardboard. In a twist, Ikea and Virgil Abloh have now teamed up on a full collection, with a work-in-progress look at the objects live-streamed to YouTube from Virgil’s native New York.
Featuring accessories and furniture, the millennial-centric collection sits somewhere between home wear staples and conceptual art.
Prominently featured are two patterned rugs, with the words “BLUE” and “KEEP OFF” spelled out in block capitals, while a red door stop titled “door stop interruption” becomes a key topic of conversation for Virgil and Henrik Most, a creative leader at Ikea Range and Supply. “Who notices a doorstop?” asks Henrik. “It’s one of those things that’s so pure in a way that it doesn’t have a designer,” Virgil agrees.
“The person who designed the wheel must think he’s like God’s gift to Earth, but the person who designed the doorstop is equally impactful because he can stop an aeroplane in its tracks.”
Final prototypes are set to be revealed in June.
Ikea
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Bryony joined It's Nice That as Deputy Editor in August 2016, following roles at Mother, Secret Cinema, LAW, Rollacoaster and Wonderland. She later became Acting Editor at It's Nice That, before leaving in late 2018.