Ikea Enlists Likes of Virgil Abloh and Misaki Kawai for Line of Graphic Rugs

The hotly anticipated, limited-edition “art rugs” drop on May 4.

Ikea has collaborated with eight big-name designers to craft its latest limited-edition drop, a.k.a. its fifth annual Art Event: a collection of bold, graphic and in-your-face rugs.

The line, which will be released in select Canadian stores in limited quantities on May 4, features original designs from Virgil Abloh, founder of streetwear label Off-White and men's artistic director at Louis Vuitton; Misaki Kawai, a Japanese artist famous for her use of €œlow-tech€ materials such as papier-mâché, wood and yarn; and Craig Green, the British menswear whose colourful, structured garments were most recently seen on Justin Bieber during the singer's surprise Coachella performance with Ariana Grande.

Other featured designers are Adam Frezza and Terri Chiao, a pair of Brooklyn-based mixed-media artists who, together, are known as Chiaozza; Seulgi Lee, a French-Korean artist recognized for her bold geometric works; Noah Lyon, a Brooklyn- and Gotland-based artist whose pieces are shown at the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Britain and elsewhere; Filip Pagowski, a Polish graphic artist who's collab€™d with the likes of Comme des Garçons and Samsonite; and SupaKitch, a French artist whose eclectic works are crafted from materials such as acrylic, resin and gold leaf.

Each artist has designed a rug (from $199) for Ikea that's striking, one of a kind and stays true to their respective styles. Abloh, for instance, has imagined a grey-scale Persian-style rug emblazoned with the words €œKEEP OFF€€”employing his signature €œironic€ quotation marks€”while Kawai has crafted a furry, 100-percent wool mat that takes the shape of a large, blue-maned lion. It's accompanied by two equally whimsical polka-dot felines.

Elsewhere, there are rugs that take the form of slithering serpents and ones adorned with images of bright parrots and cacti. All of them are made from wool and other natural materials, and only one is machine-woven. The others are handmade in India and Egypt.

Ikea is anticipating high demand for the collection€”so much so that It's essentially adopting the hypebeast-sneaker-drop protocol of distributing the rugs through a raffle system (Virgil's impact!). The pieces are only being released at three Ikea locations in Canada€”in Coquitlam, Etobicoke and Montreal (sorry, Albertans)€”and interested shoppers must arrive to the store on May 4 bright and early to receive a wristband. (That's between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. in Coquitlam, to be specific.)

If the number on your wristband corresponds to a number that is drawn randomly, you then have the opportunity to purchase a rug from the collection. In Coquitlam, there are 112 rugs up for grabs. (May the odds be in your favour!)

Check out some of our favourite pieces from Ikea’s Art Event 2019 below.