IKEA is Bringing Back Inflatable Furniture
Just not how you remember it.
IKEA has unveiled a reengineered take on the inflatable chair at this year’s Milan Design Week.
Taking the once kitsch staple, the Swedish design giant is repositioning it as the standout piece of its upcoming PS 2026 collection and a symbol of how low-cost design can evolve for a more sustainability-conscious era.
Designed by Mikael Axellson, the new chair rethinks the familiar air-filled form by pairing it with a carbon steel frame and a tailored textile cover in a rich emerald green.
The hybrid construction marks a decisive shift away from the fully plastic designs of the 1990s, addressing long-standing criticisms around durability and comfort while retaining the lightweight efficiency that made inflatable furniture appealing in the first place.
Inside, a system of air chambers provides structure and ergonomic support, eliminating the sagging and instability that plagued earlier versions. The addition of a fabric exterior also resolves practical issues such as squeaking and slipping, bringing the piece closer to conventional upholstered seating — albeit with significantly less material use.
Hypebeast
Hypebeast
Hypebeast
Hypebeast
For Axellson, the material choice is central to the concept. “IKEA is all about democratising design, and in that way, air is the perfect material to work with,” he told Hypebeast. “It’s free and everyone has access to it.”
The chair’s assembly process further reinforces that balance. Rather than including an electric pump, IKEA opted for a manual foot pump — a decision driven as much by cost as by sustainability considerations. “An electric pump would’ve made assembly slightly faster and easier,” Axellson explains, “but it would have pushed the price higher and, once the chair is ready to use, you’d be left with electronic waste.”
The launch forms part of the tenth edition of the IKEA PS collection, a series first introduced in 1995 to challenge traditional notions of high-end design by making experimental ideas accessible to a mass audience. The 2026 iteration continues that mission, focusing on adaptable, resource-efficient objects suited to contemporary living.
Alongside the inflatable chair, the collection includes a transformable lamp by Dutch designer Lex Pott and a rocking wooden bench by IKEA’s Marta Krupińska, both of which emphasise versatility and tactile engagement. However, it is the chair — with its blend of nostalgia and technical refinement — that has emerged as the headline piece.
By revisiting a once-dismissed typology and applying a more rigorous design approach, IKEA appears to be testing whether inflatable furniture can move beyond novelty and into everyday relevance. “We wanted to take something people might not immediately take seriously and show that, with the right engineering and material choices, it can become a real, long-lasting piece of furniture,” Axellson says.
“It’s about changing perceptions as much as improving performance.”
The IKEA PS 2026 collection is scheduled for global release in May.
