LONDON — Hermes’ Birkin, Chanel’s flap bag, Louis Vuitton’s carryall — and Ikea’s Frakta? At its new Oxford Circus pop-up, the Swedish retailer is teeing up its famous blue tote to be the next big luxury bag, and for only 99 cents.
“In a playful tribute to this iconic location, we took inspiration from the world of fashion, and blended it with our own principles of democratic design, so the Frakta can be discovered like never before,” said Matt Gould, Ikea London’s city store manager.
Ikea’s curation of items inspired by high-fashion concept stores.
Courtesy of Ikea
Named “Hus of Frakta,” the temporary space pokes fun at luxury brands’ service offer and slick marketing, offering to personalize Frakta bags and a curation of items inspired by the bag’s signature shade of cobalt.
It will be open until March 2025, when Ikea’s permanent Oxford Circus location opens next door. As reported, Ikea is moving into the former Topshop flagship space.
The jump to luxury isn’t too much of a stretch. After all, Balenciaga famously debuted a similar bag in 2017, priced at $2,145. In response, Ikea launched a cheeky advert detailing how customers could distinguish fakes from genuine Fraktas.
Ikea’s response to Balenciaga from 2017.
Courtesy of Ikea
“Some designers get inspired by looking at birds, so they embroider its feathers, but my way of design is looking at some keyholder and making a bag out of it,” Demna, Balenciaga’s creative director, told WWD in 2019. “But it’s never in competition with its original source, obviously.”
The Ikea bag has been reimagined in collaboration with designers, too. Zandra Rhodes, Marimekko, and Hay, as well as Parisian department store Colette, have all put their own spin on the tote.
The London pop-up even offers shoppers the opportunity to try cotton candy.
Courtesy of Ikea
Earlier this year, the brand opened another tongue-in-cheek pop-up in New York. Titled “Sleepeasy,” visitors mingled on the brand’s bed and loungers piled high with pillows.
The temporary space came a month after Ingka Investments, an arm of the Ingka Group which owns the majority of Ikea stores, revealed plans to open an 80,000-square-foot Ikea store at 570 Fifth Avenue, expected to open in 2028.
