Hella Jongerius for 2009 IKEA PS Collection

Lifestyle / Product design

As part of the Unicef/IKEA program, Hella Jongerius created three new patchwork wall hangings for the new IKEA PS Collection, based on Swedish animal folklore.

By Jeanne Tan /asdf 12-02-2009

Swedish traditions and community are some of the major themes present in the latest and sixth IKEA PS Collection.

A new PS collection is presented every three years, comprising more design-based and limited pieces. Hella Jongerius returned for the second time to create new pieces for the collection, this time wall hangings based on animals from Swedish fairy tales.

Jongerius' first mass-made pieces were produced by IKEA for their 2006 PS Collection. Her vases PS Jonsberg were a huge hit, combining the volume of industrial production with Jongerius' own hand-crafted style to make each piece individual and deliberately imperfect. Similarly for her new wall hangings, the large scale production of IKEA is married with small scale craft production, this time in India. The project formed part of the IKEA-Unicef program, this particular initiative was established to help women in India start up small sewing businesses. Their income generated goes towards education for their children. "Some years ago when I heard about the project with sewing workshops for women in India that IKEA had begun with Unicef, I was very enthusiastic. To collaborate with this project not only gave me the opportunity to do what was fascinating for me but also to contribute to a better world", Jongerius says.

Her wall hangings are inspired by the animals from Swedish folklore. Mikkel is the name of a typical Swedish fox, Pelle is a nickname for Swedish rabbits, and Gullspira is a goat character from a tragic Swedish tale. "Animals have already been featured in much of my earlier work; they trigger first and foremost the imagination. An animal has the power to be familiar; expressing moods comparable to the moods of human beings, and at the same time an animal remains puzzling", Jongerius adds.

The hangings use a mix of woollen felt, woven woolen dobby, printed cotton and polyester band. The parts are stitched together in a patchwork fashion by machine and hand. Hand embroidery adds the finishing touches. Each wall hanging is made from beginning to end by one woman; a tag at the back lists the names of IKEA, Hella Jongerius and the embroidered name of the woman (in Hindi) who made it.

In other news, Spanish shoe company Camper has engaged Hella Jongerius to redesign four of their well known shoe models. Pelotas, Imar, Peu and Brothers received a fresh makeover Jongerius style with much attention to detail and a lot of colour. As a shoe-lover, Jongerius didn't have to think twice about taking the assignment. The first glimpses of the redesigns were seen at the recent Bread & Butter fair in Barcelona as part of Camper's Autumn/Winter 2009-2010 collection. We'll keep you posted with more developments.