Virgil Abloh Is Teaming Up With IKEA

Virgil Abloh is collaborating with IKEA to make design pieces more accessible to young people.

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While speaking at Columbia University earlier this year, Virgil Abloh announced Off-White was teaming up with a "super awesome furniture design company”; however, he didn’t say which one. Exactly four months later, the details of the partnership have been revealed.

The 36-year-old designer will be joining forces with Swedish megabrand IKEA. The news was shared Wednesday during the company’s annual Democratic Design Days, which highlights its upcoming projects for the year.

During the event’s live broadcast, Abloh joined Parisa Amiri and IKEA’s head of design Marcus Engman on stage to discuss what was in store. The collaboration will focus on creative ways to make young people’s first home “more personal, yet inexpensive.”

“There’s only so many moments in design career to work with absolute best in class,” Abloh replied when asked about his decision to collaborate with IKEA. “My concept in design resonates with democratic design and principle—that great design can be given to the masses, and they can be accessible […] It’s a complete honor to share ideas and make things.”

Engman explained why the company chose to partner with the Off-White founder, pointing to Abloh’s background in architecture (he received his Masters of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology) as well as his diverse skill set and experience.

“Why not combine creative disciplines instead of focusing on one?” Engman said. “[…] We foresee to get a lot of good ideas from all of your knowledge that you’ve gathered from working in fashion and music and as being an architect.”

Abloh spoke about being inspired by IKEA’s culture, pointing to its design codes, branding, and packaging. He said the partnership will fulfill a need for the group of young people who are eager to live with design.

During the discussion, IKEA showed home videos taken by millennials. The clips highlighted the most common issues young people face while living in small spaces. Abloh said he was immediately inspired by the footage.

“What I love about [architecture is] it’s sort of fulfilling a need; there’s a client in that suggestion, in that solution. It’s not just a self-fulfilling goal. You’re trying to solve a need, and I think this video outlines what real people need for their living environments.”

Abloh went on to talk about moving away to college and how it was the first time his living environment wasn’t dictated by his parents. Being on his own allowed him to express himself and showcase his own taste, which, according to him, gave him a sense of pride. But he admitted living with design isn’t that easy, as there is a lack of accessibility—both in price point and availability.

“With our project, we’re addressing those two bullet points and many more,” he explained. “Me and my friends were educated by Tumblr and educated by these streaming images of things that we’ve seen, but never seen in person. My goal is to sort of make those things real so people can live with design, and live with a great product.”

Abloh said his dream outcome is to spread the message of good design and sustainability. He also suggested the collaboration could lead to IKEA-designed dorm rooms. Abloh invited colleges around the world to “sign up.”

You can watch the discussion at the 19-minute mark in the video above. Virgil’s first IKEA project was to rework the recognizable FRAKTA bag, which you can see in the Instagram images below. 

 

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