Fans queue all night for release of Ikea rug designed by Louis Vuitton’s Virgil Abloh
Queues stretched around the block this morning as fans of a major international company known for its slim design lined up to get their hands on its most recent product. The shop? Ikea. The item? A rug.
The new carpet is a collaboration with Off White, run by Louis Vuitton men’s artistic director Virgil Abloh.
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Retailing for less than £300 in store, the rug is already available on Ebay for as much as £1,500 this morning in the UK.
Fred, a 14-year-old who queued all night in Stockholm for the rug, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet he already has a buyer willing to cough up 7,000 Swedish krona (£560).
“It has been a good night, but very cold and rainy,” he said. “We bought a tent, but it blew down, and we then got to sit under the roof, which made everything good.”
Designer Abloh said: “I wanted an ironic take on the traditional attitude to furnishing where the living room is just a showroom, not somewhere you sit. The parental ‘don’t ruin the furniture’ kind of thing I think has really impacted how younger people think.”
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Swedish singer Samir Badran bought one of the rugs this morning.
“I am in shock that I manage to get hold of one of the rugs, in shock! I swear on my mother that I never thought I’d get one,” he told Aftonbladet.