IKEA is Launching a New Collection of Handmade Homeware
Modern meets traditional in furniture behemoth IKEA’s newest collection of homeware. The company announced the launch of LOKALT, a collection of decor and homeware handmade by local artisans from around the globe, this week. A series of vibrant handicraft ceramics and textiles in the form of serving plates and bowls, vases, pillow covers, throw blankets, baskets, and more, LOKALT hails from artisans from Jordan, Thailand, and India, serving as part of IKEA’s social entrepreneur initiative to support job opportunities and livelihood for global communities. The collection will launch in IKEA stores in June.
“LOKALT is a collection with a modern and expressive take on traditional handicraft. It’s full of quirky details that tell stories from the places where the products are actually made,” said Maria O’Brian, creative leader at IKEA. “The ceramics [pay] tribute to the Thai way to serve food, there are glimpses of everyday life in Amman in the home textiles, and expressive shapes inspired by the Indian heritage in cushion covers and rugs.” O’Brian said IKEA looked for designers with “modern expression” to showcase the belief that “handicraft doesn’t have to look traditional or old-fashioned.”
The creative leader added, “It can be modern and even avant-garde.” Like collections’ past, LOKALT is fairly accessible, too. Prices for the collection range between $10 and $229.
Design duo Ploypan Theerachai and Decha Archjananun and designer Tania Haddad are among the artisans in the LOKALT collection, with contributing social partners including Jordan River Foundation in Jordan and Industree Foundation in India. “Social enterprises around livelihoods are actually quite rare, but those are the ones that need to be scaled. We have to engage with big business, otherwise we are not able to see scale,” says Neelam Chhiber, managing trustee at Industree. “We need the power of big business behind us and that’s why the relationship with IKEA is crucial.”
LOKALT launches in IKEA stores in June.