Published 23 September 2020 • Inter IKEA newsroom

A KARISMATISK collaboration with Zandra Rhodes to launch at IKEA stores in 2021

Working in collaboration with the British pattern and textile designer Zandra Rhodes, next September IKEA will launch KARISMATISK, a collection of 26 unique and expressive pieces. Here's a peek at the first product from the collection, the KARISMATISK bag. Inspired by the iconic FRAKTA bag, it is unmistakably Zandra.

Using patterns and colour is an easy and affordable way to make a change or to express your personality at home. They can visually change the size of a room, affect the atmosphere, add fun, energy or even drama to your space. At IKEA we are curious to deep dive into the power of patterns and colour to transform space. And who better to do this together with than the bold and creative fashion designer Zandra Rhodes, who has been a notorious figurehead of the UK fashion industry for five decades?

Together with Zandra, IKEA decided to explore how Zandra’s vibrant style and bold patterns can be designed in a home context. The result will be KARISMATISK, a collection of 26 unique and expressive pieces for those bravely mixing and matching colours and patterns and those still working up the courage to go full-pattern. The collection will be available at IKEA stores from September 2021.

Zandra’s world of patterns and colour and the values she lives her life by inspired the IKEA team, who encouraged Zandra to be true to her very functional, thrifty, repurpose habits. Together with Zandra Rhodes, IKEA uses the five dimensions of Democratic design – form, function, quality, sustainability at an affordable price – to create expressive and functional pieces to be enjoyed and appreciated outside the context of commercial fashion. This exploration led to a deeper understanding of patterns and colour as powerful expressions of skill, personality, local culture, as well as their profound effects on people and spaces.

“It is wonderful being able to go all out with both patterns and colours. Zandra is phenomenal at this, this simmering stew of bold patterns and bright colours that cooks up to something tantalising and beautiful. I want, like, all of it! I am impressed by the open and inviting way in which ideas and concepts are explored in this collaboration. It is a super democratic way of working, where all ideas are welcome, says Paulin Machado, IKEA in-house designer.

“The IKEA team really get the Zandra Rhodes aesthetic, and because of this we just bounce off one another. The design process has been organic and genuine, and this is seen throughout the whole collection”, says Zandra Rhodes.

The first product from the collection is the KARISMATISK carrier bag, which is Zandra’s take on FRAKTA, the iconic blue IKEA bag. Like in all the products in the coming collection, fashion and function go hand in hand in it. This multifunctional bag has a bold and playful design with colour pop of pink adding an extra Zandra accent.

“The FRAKTA bag is IKEA! The bag could not be left out of the KARISMATISK collection and I was so excited to have my take on one of the most famous and identifiable IKEA products,” says Zandra Rhodes.