Virgil Abloh Addresses Unoriginality Claims on His IKEA Collab

“That was my point.” HYPEBEAST [Features]( June 22, 2018 [Virgil Abloh Addresses Unoriginality Claims on His IKEA Collab]( “That was my point.” [Virgil Abloh]( ELAINE YJ LEE/HYPEBEAST Over the course of a year since Virgil Abloh and IKEA announced their partnership, we saw many leaks and teasers of their upcoming collaboration. Named “MARKERAD”, the collection consists of furniture, rugs and smaller accessories, some still in prototype phase. At IKEA‘s 2018 Democratic Design Day which took place in Almhult, Sweden last week, Abloh took a break from prepping for his first Louis Vuitton presentation to stop by and make final tweaks on his furniture designs. HYPEBEAST got an exclusive peek behind the meeting process and spoke to Abloh on his latest project with IKEA. Creative leader Henrik Most and product developer Xander Spree who worked on the collection together also chime in on working with Virgil. Everything I do has a deeper meaning. It follows my philosophy of finding the balance between a tourist and a purist. [Virgil Abloh]( ELAINE YJ LEE/HYPEBEAST The “WET GRASS”, receipt rug and “DISTORTION” mirror were revealed here for the very first time. It seems like these products have a deeper meaning than ones that were revealed before. V: Everything I do has a deeper meaning. It follows my philosophy of finding the balance between a tourist and a purist. There are people that live and breathe and study design, furniture, graphic design, fashion. And then there’re people that just enjoy it. I like to make things that fall in the space for both, so on the surface level, there is an allure or a reason to look at it, but there has to be something on a deeper level. When I use quotes, it’s challenging convention. What’s a “chair,” or what’s a “rug,” “display case,” “bed”? It’s me using irony in a specific way. It’s my voice, a way to distinguish a repeated product without putting my name on it. It lets a viewer reanalyze or question the fact. Is a rug a rug? Is a bag a sculpture? It allows me to rewire and remessage, and consistently find “me” in my work. [READ FULL ARTICLE ON HYPEBEAST →](   [hypebeast](     [More HYPEBEAST Features]( [[FASHION]( [Here's the Best Street Style From Pitti Uomo 94]( [[FOOTWEAR]( [Sneakersnstuff & adidas Leap Into the Future in This Week's Footwear Drops]( Get The App Free on iOS and Android Follow 2018 HYPEBEAST Limited. All Rights Reserved [Manage Subscriptions]( [Unsubscribe]( You are receiving this email because you have subscribed to HYPEBEAST's marketing emails. You can unsubscribe from us any time by clicking [here](. Our Mailing Address: HYPEBEAST, 12F, 10-16 Kwai Ting Road, Kwai Chung, Hong Kong