Here’s how to shop IKEA x Virgil Abloh

Off-White CEO/Louis Vuitton menswear director Virgil Abloh is about to launch his latest collaboration, with none other than furniture giant IKEA. The collection, known as MARKERAD, is targeted directly to millennials moving out of their parents’ houses, and includes 15 pieces, ranging from a $9.99 cushion cover and $12.99 “HOMEWORK” tool kit, to a $229 “KEEP OFF” rug and $299 glass-door cabinet (to showcase your “icons”). The range also includes a pretty cool backlit Mona Lisa at $79.99.

Virgil Abloh IKEA Markerad — MARKERAD “SCULPTURE” Shopping bag

“I want each item to bring people a sense of pride, and I want the great design to be the biggest reason why you get it.”
—Virgil Abloh

Acquiring anything from this collection will be quite difficult and annoying, since everything Virgil Abloh designs is gold to his fans and he clearly wants to keep it exclusive. The Mona Lisa, for example, is limited to just 10 units per store, as per the store allocation chart. Nonetheless, we wanted to outline the steps required to have anything from Markerad in your own home before having to buy it on eBay for 10 times the price.

“Dreams come true when you don’t sleep.”
—Virgil Abloh

The collection will launch this Friday, Nov. 1, and IKEA Family members will have first dibs, so register here (as the website actually says, it really is free and easy). The two closest stores are as follows: Montreal and Boucherville. The first 300 members to arrive after 6 a.m. will be given a wristband and have early access to shop the collection from 10 a.m. to noon. If you choose to arrive at 6 a.m., that’s four hours before you’d actually be allowed to shop the collection, so bring a phone charger. Once you’re shopping the collection, each wristband is limited to just four articles, which prevents one person from buying up the entire collection to sell at a profit, but also hurts those who wanted to buy the dining table with more than three chairs. Obviously, keep it classy while you’re shopping, to avoid being refused service.

The collection is very cool overall, and gives us an opportunity to have one of Virgil’s designs at a fraction of the price of anything he designs for Louis Vuitton. Just please, if you’re ahead of us in line, don’t buy the four last Mona Lisas. Good luck!

For more details on the launch, visit the IKEA Canada MARKERAD website.

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