To celebrate its 80th birthday, Swedish furniture giant Ikea recently announced the third drop of its Nytillverkad collection, which reimagines the brand’s favourite pieces from previous decades. Since the collection was first announced in 2023, it has released a new drop every three months. The collection comes as demand for vintage furniture spikes, especially among younger consumers. In a Statista survey, 63 per cent of US millennials stated they preferred vintage furniture over new. This t
This trend is also apparent in Australia, where demand for sustainable and eco-friendly furniture is on the rise as consumers prioritise ethical and environmentally-conscious choices.
How is Ikea reimagining old products?
Each piece of the Nytillverkad collection celebrates Ikea’s unique, simple, functional and playful design ethos and features a range of furniture, bedding, and accessories reimagined to cater to the modern-day consumer.
The collection reinvents previous designs by offering them in new colourways and materials to form a timeless and even more functional product range.
For instance, Ikea’s Mila armchair was first launched in 1967 with four cross-base legs. For the Nytillverkad collection, the retailer tweaked the design to have five legs for added stability, dubbing it the Dvylinge. A prior drop included the Sotenas armchair, which was recreated from the 1969 Puck armchair, which had a white tubular underframe that is now yellow.
One of Ikea’s first flatpack pieces of self-assembled furniture was the Lövet side table, originally launched in 1956. Which has now been reimagined as the Lövbacken, which is available in four bold colours as part of Nytillverkad collection.
True to mid-century modern styling, it combines sleek lines, organic shapes and durable functionality with a durable, stain-resistant veneer surface.
Nytillverkad 3.0
The most recent Nytillverkad drop delves back into the 60s and 70s with the return of evergreen colours, bold patterns, optimistic shapes and unconventional furnishing solutions and styles.
Released in January, the 12-piece collection is a reimagining of Ikea’s Karin Mobring and Gillis Lundgren collections from archives. Introducing modern functionality, it has been well received by Australian consumers with many products selling out.
Thea Mix Davidsson, collection curator of Ikea Museum, told Inside Retail, “The past collections have really resonated with our Australian customers, and we’re thrilled to expand the Nytillverkad range with even more exquisite pieces. It’s great to see our archive used in a way that can create relevance even today.”
Marquee pieces in the third drop include the Dyvlige swivel armchair, available in Kelinge black and Kelinge green and the Baggboda side table, available in white and yellow. Many pieces have repeatedly sold out and Ikea has restocked them weekly.
Key successes
Johan Ejdemo, global design manager of Ikea Sweden, told Inside Retail, that the collection, “highlights the democratic design of Ikea combining beautiful form, great function, and sustainability, at an affordable price and quality that lasts a long time”.
The Nytillverkad collection has had three drops since July 2023, and the complete range of products will be available from April 2024.
Reimagined to meet consumer needs
By reinventing classic pieces to be even more functional and sustainable, in addition to offering new colourways, Ikea has created a timeless product range with the Nytillverkad collection.
“In recent years, vintage furniture has experienced a resurgence. We are happy to see a continuous interest and desire for Ikea products, some of which have even become collectors’ items. Many Ikea classics are sold at auction houses and marketplaces. To us, these products are our best examples of democratic design, able to withstand the test of time, as they combine a beautiful form, a great function, sustainability, an affordable price and quality that lasts,” Ejdemo said.
“At Ikea, we’re proud of our heritage and want to celebrate it by bringing back some of our most iconic designs while integrating the latest technology and materials. The Nytillverkad collection blends classic designs with modern standards, and it is all about simplicity, functionality, bold expression, and playfulness – just like Ikea.
“We are excited to see interest coming from customers of all ages, especially young people who are discovering our design legacy and using these vibrant solutions to express themselves at home. To us, these products are the essence of democratic design, they are timeless, as they combine a beautiful form, a great function, sustainability, an affordable price, and quality that lasts long,” Ejdemo told Inside Retail.