After getting glimpses of the collection on social media, Virgil Abloh and IKEA officially revealed the “MARKERAD” range via Youtube live stream last night.
The Off-White founder and artistic director at Louis Vuitton talked about a selection of pre-production prototypes, and answered questions from viewers at home.
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Virgil states the collection is designed to "bring a sense of pride" to owning IKEA products, similar to the pride you feel when wearing a piece of coveted clothing.
The biggest news of the night is that the millennial-focused collection will be affordable and widely-available, not a highly-priced limited release designed to build hype.
It'll include an array of products, from rugs to chairs, door stops and display cases. There's also a table which wasn't shown during the stream.
Each piece features instantly-recognisable Abloh design flourishes, whether that's a Persian-style woven rug with with “KEEP OFF” printed on it, or a door handle designed to look like a nail.
Although not talked about, re-designed Frakta bags were also on display, with “SCULPTURE” wording boldly printed on the paper side.
It's worth noting all products on display are currently in prototype stage – Abloh and the IKEA designers are still working on finalising designs and materials.
For example, Virgil stated he'd prefer to use clear acrylic for the doorstop, while IKEA would only use clear acrylic if they could get it from a sustainable source.
It was only a brief look at what Virgil Abloh and IKEA are working on, but it's made us incredibly excited for the final product.
You can watch the presentation below, it starts 25 minutes into the video:
