Ikea finally announced that the The MARKERAD collection will be launching in November 2019, offering around fifteen products which Abloh has said are aimed squarely at urban millennials: 'we’re designing this collection with the main goal of providing millennials with solutions for living based on the constraints of space'.
After more than two excruciating years of sneak peaks via pop-ups and Abloh's Instagram feed, the collection was finally displayed at a showroom at London Fashion Week which invited visitors to touch and sit in the pieces. From graphic rugs, clever clocks and terrific totes, each product playfully celebrates the role of ordinary objects and are the perfect way to add a bit of street cred to your home.
The MARKERAD collection goes on sale 1 November in IKEA Wembley and Croydon. To guarantee access to this collection, tickets will be on sale on the IKEA website from 10am on Friday 18 October. Click here to book your spot.
MARKERAD Tote Bag £12
Abloh has repeatedly expressed a wish to elevate the everyday object through his collection: 'it’s about elevating the anonymous, everyday icons that we use without noticing'. Ikea's blue FRAKTA bag seems to have been given the Abloh treatment with the words 'sculpture' monumentalising the humble tote to the status of fine art.
MARKERAD Receipt Rug £75
The Virgil Abloh x Ikea rugs have no doubt been the most sensational and talked-about items of the collaboration. The designers 'Keep Off' rug sold out after just five minutes of going on sale on IKEA's online store early this summer and his 'Still Loading', 'Blue', and 'Grey' rugs were available to buy at various IKEA pop-ups throughout the years (and resold for stratospheric prices), but it's unsure whether these will be part of the official MARKERAD collection. One of the rugs that will definitely be on sale as part of the collection resembles a giant Ikea receipt, an apt centrepiece for those who like to keep track of their spending or commemorate special splurges. The Wet Grass Rug (pictured above) will also be on sale for £119 and is perfect for gardenless city dwellers looking to bring the outdoors in.
MARKERAD Cabinet £150
This minimalist cabinet deliberately champions a neutral design so that your possessions can take centre stage. Apparently the piece is intended to be 'a modern-day version of a baroque Wunderkammer' which people used to show off curiosities and their prized objects.
MARKERAD Chair £99, MARKERAD Table £250
The chair is often regarded as the most perfect expression of a designer's creative spirit. This one wonderfully captures the mood of urban minimalism which Abloh set out to achieve with this collection. The pale wood used in the MARKERAD chair and table is an understated way to bring some Scandi warmth into your kitchen.
MARKERAD Clock £25
A clock which delivers some metaphysical musings with the words 'temporary' superimposed over its face is perhaps intended as a reminder to us to find time in our hectic city lifestyles to stop and smell the roses. It's another wonderful example of how Abloh uses object and text to play with our perceptions throughout the collection.
Other items in the collection include a relaxed daybed (£175), perfect for some much-needed daydreaming, and a Mona Lisa-inspired wall hanging (£65) which well transform your space into the Louvre. The entire collection balances the quirky with the understated, the old and the new, and are the statement pieces that every modern home needs.
The MARKERAD collection will go on sale in November. Check here for more further updates.
| What | Everything we know about the Virgil Abloh x Ikea collab |
| Price | £N/A |
| Website | Click here for more information |