Virgil Abloh’s Long Awaited Ikea Line is Finally Here — Two Years of Wait and Plenty of Buzz

On November 1, Ikea launches its long-awaited limited-edition Markerad collection, which was announced in 2017. Fans of designer Virgil Abloh have waited almost two years for the collaboration to appear in stores.

Abloh, named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018, has risen to star status through his numerous collaborations with rapper Kanye West. Following an internship at Fendi, Abloh launched street-fashion house Off-White and currently serves as creative director for Louis Vuitton Menswear.

The 15-piece Ikea collection was designed with millennials in mind and is meant to be inexpensive and fashionable, a blend of contemporary art, street art and Ikea product design. Markerad, which means “marked” in Swedish, fits well with Ikea’s minimalist approach, utilizing clean lines and a limited color palette, with unique touches through the designer’s use of graphic statements.

Eye-catching objects include a rug that’s a reproduction of the traditional Ikea receipt, which Abloh describes as being “transformed into art.” There’s a framed image of the Mona Lisa that illuminates to serve as a wall light; a white-on-white “Temporary” wall clock; a mirror with an intentional crack to distort images; and a chair with a doorstop as leg.

The collection is available Friday, November 1, in-store only at Ikea (not available online). A maximum of one per person of each of the 15 pieces in the collection will be enforced. Wristbands will be given out for store entry, beginning at 7 am.