Swedish House Mafia’s IKEA Collab Is Designed to Foster Creative Pursuits
Hypebeast linked with the electronic music legends to talk about their foray into furniture design.
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Once 2022 rolls its credits, Swedish House Mafia will look back and say “What a hell of a year.” The EDM supergroup composed of Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell and Steve Angello put on two electrifying headliner performances at Coachella in conjunction with The Weeknd, dropped their debut studio album Paradise Again, and are now embarking on a new endeavor: their own collection with IKEA. Very seldom do music artists and furniture design overlap, but Swedish House Mafia x IKEA is a match made in heaven (and Sweden).
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“With this collaboration, we wanted to essentially create what our younger selves would’ve wanted — and help people like our younger selves afford cool equipment as they dive into being a music producer.”
Before the hit singles and hectic tour schedules, the SHM members were curious kids with a fervor for producing music. The necessary equipment wasn’t always at their disposal, so they would often resort to hacking IKEA products to erect their own creative havens. “Growing up, we used a lot of IKEA furniture and made our own DJ tables, studio tables and speaker stands,” Angello told Hypebeast. “With this collaboration, we wanted to essentially create what our younger selves would’ve wanted — and help people like our younger selves afford cool equipment as they dive into being a music producer.” The collection’s title, OBEGRÄNSAD — which translates to “unlimited” in Swedish — is also a reflection of its purpose as it’s geared towards music fans, producers, DJs and creators with limited means and unlimited creativity.
IKEA’s Swedish roots, global reach and affordable nature convinced SHM that they were the ideal partner. “There’s a big phenomenon of actually making music in your home,” lead designer at IKEA Friso Wiersma stated. “We typically sit with the expertise of home furnishing knowledge, but we are not experts on how you make music or how to set up a functional music space, so that’s where we helped each other and why the partnership was perfect.”
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The collection amounts to over 20 furnishing solutions, all of which are shrouded in all-black to mirror the EDM artists’ signature style. “Aesthetics were first and foremost in this project, followed by functionality and problem solving,” says Axwell. “Swedish House Mafia has always been about creating movements and bringing people into our world. This was a project that we were very hands-on with in terms of testing and creating each product as opposed to being a collection that we slapped our name on just to make money.”
“The more minimalistic something looks, the more work went into designing it.”
Three key items lead the range. First up is a laid-back armchair that bears a metal tube frame with a continuous cushion and Bauhaus-inspired sensibility. There’s also a desk with two air level speaker stands and a pullout shelf that fits a keyboard as well as a record player — IKEA’s first since 1973. “We made sure to be super particular about every detail here”, says Axwell. “Take the record player for example, it’s such a beautiful and simple piece, but note that the more minimalistic something looks, the more work went into designing it.”
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Elsewhere in the collection are LED lamps for the floor, wall and desk, clocks that are shaped to mimic the DJ’s halo-esque stage sets, a pair of of shelving units, stands meant to hold laptops, tablets, speakers and records, fuzzy slippers and bedroom rugs, a throw blanket and cushion cover and stealthy FRAKTA tote bags.
The industrial chic OBEGRÄNSAD assemblage — which is expected to be released throughout global IKEA stores in October — is a step towards the democratization of music making and elevating creative pursuits. The EDM powerhouse understands that while many folks possess the ability to create, having a space that is functional, accessible, budget-friendly and inspiring can unlock your true potential to produce incredible art. So whether you’re looking to add a new vinyl player to your home to vibe out on Sunday mornings or mold yourself into the next hit-making record producer, don’t you worry child: Swedish House Mafia’s got a plan for you.
