Jul 7, 2016 | By Tess

Swedish furniture manufacture IKEA has found its way into most people’s hearts and homes with their affordable and minimalist furniture and home deco pieces. Despite their decades long success the company has still pushed the boundaries of design with a number of exciting partnerships and collaborations, including from within the field of fashion. IKEA’s most recent collaboration, with Belgian fashion designer Walter van Beirendonck, not only pushes the boundaries of home accessories through the designer’s incredible imagination, but also through the incorporation of DIY 3D printing technologies.

Walter van Beirendonck, part a group of designers known as the Antwerp Six, is known within the fashion world for his unexpected color combinations and bold graphic patterns, two elements which evidently inspired his vibrant IKEA collection. The limited edition collection, called GLÖDANDE, consists of colorful pre-cut fabrics, stationary, shopping bags, rugs, porcelain pieces, and pillows. Additionally, in a first for IKEA, the collection also includes 3D printable files which can be downloaded for free by users at home.

 The GLÖDANDE collection was born from van Beirendonck’s imaginary world of “Wondermooi”, a universe of creatures whose task in life is to make the world a better and happier place. As the designer explains, “Every collection is starting with research and the things I like to see together. When I started with the IKEA project, I wanted to handle it almost like a fashion collection. I really wanted to gather a lot of inspirations, think about stories, think about ideas which could evolve into other things. I wanted to tell a story.”

The story he conceived of involved a number of different characters known as Wondermooi, or children of the clouds. They are described as “A fantastic mix of shapes, colors, fur, feathers, and skin.” In the fantastical story, the Wondermooi notice that their cloud home has begun to develop holes, and that storms and rain are becoming more constant. One of the Wondermooi, called Vliegmachien, hears crying from above in the sky, so he goes to ask the Sun and Moon what is wrong.

According to the Sun and Moon, they are sad because the people on earth are fighting wars and are not living in peace, causing them to cry tears that in turn become storms and floods. To fix the earth and make the Sun and Moon happy again, the Wondermooi make a magical dust cloud to send to earth to make everyone happy.

The five Wondermooi characters, which are an undeniably strange bunch, were the inspiration for the 3D printable collection of characters, which can be downloaded for free. Each 3D printable file also comes with painting instructions so that makers can share the joy and colorfulness of the Wondermooi with the world. The downloadable characters include Kwade Tiger, 1000G, Spiegel, Rood, and Vliegmachien.

While there is no word on how long the 3D printable files will be open to users, the in-store items will only be available for a limited time.

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Application

 

 

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