Ikea X Gen Z by Molly Ellen Davies

IKEA X GEN Z

MOLLY DAVIES

CONTENTS

1.) THE BRIEF 2.) WHAT DOES FASHION MEAN TO ME? 3.) WHAT DOES FASHION MEAN TO ME? 4.) SUSTAINABILITY 5.) SUSTAINABILITY 6.) UPCYCLING 7.) UPCYCLING 9.) IKEA 11.) IKEA FASHION 12.) IKEA STORE VISIT 13.) IKEA STORE VISIT 14.) GENERATION Z 15.) GENERATION Z 16.) PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT 17.) PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT 18.) EXPERIMENTATION 19.) FINAL IMAGE 20.) MARKETING 21.) REFERENCES

MOLLY DAVIES

THE BRIEF

Within the AD4606 ( Fashion Brand Development) module, we were given a live industry brief from Ikea. The live industry brief stated we had to upcycle a interior product to appeal to the Generation Z market and the style and aesthtetic of Ikea. The finished product needed to be innovative,new and fresh to appeal to the Generation Z target market.

MOLLY DAVIES

EMOTIONS

PERSONALITY

EXPRESSIVE

ESCAPISM The first task we had to complete within our research for this module, was to research into the meaning of fashion. Firstly within my sketchbook I created a visual mood board of images and text that I personally would associate with ‘Fashion’. They are mostly high end fashion images, alongside both hand and computer drawn fashion illustrations. I have also added some images showcasing my favourite fashion styles. For example, I have included images of Tokyo Street style. I am particularly interested in the Tokyo street style fashion scene. I am fascinated by the highly colourful and patterned outfits, often featured in Japans iconic ‘Fruits’ Fashion magazine.I have also included images of ‘Dua Lipa’ and platform shoes.

Finally, to sum up this part of my research I have come up with some key words that I would use to describe fashion.

MOLLY DAVIES

WHAT DOES FASHION MEAN TO ME?

MOLLY DAVIES

SUSTAINABILITY RE-USE

RE-CYCLE

RE-DUCE

MOLLY DAVIES

When researching into Upcycling, some significant facts I found are; •Upcycling has a positive effect on the environment. •Upcycling doesn’t involve breaking down materials. •Upcycling originates from all the way back to the 1930s-40s. Some families had very little materials and money, therefore re-purposing items would be beneficial and save a lot of money! •By up-cycling you are removing items from the global garbage stream. •Upcycling is extremely versatile and you can up-cycle almost everything such as newspapers, clothing, tires and milk cartons. •Upcycling made its way into pop culture in 2002, with the influence of the book ‘Cradle to Cradle: Remaking The Way We Make Things’ written by American author ‘William McDonough and German Chemist ‘Michael Braungart’.

UPCYCLING IN FASHION A collection and designer that caught my attention is the A/W 16 collection by Dutch designers ‘Viktor and Rolf’. I was really interested and inspired with how they brought back old fabrics from previous collections and upcycled them to create these Avant Garde Victorian style garments. The way in which the fabrics and embellishments are put together creates a ‘sustainable’ and ‘upcycled’ aesthetic, in which I think makes the collection seem special and sentimental.

MOLLY DAVIES

UPCYCLING

MOLLY DAVIES

IKEA

Ikea is the iconic Swedish home furnishings company. It was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad. Ikea’s ethos is that the ‘home is the most important place and that children are the most important people’. This quote strongly supports the focus on children’s products and toys within the company and in store. As on a recent visit to the Warrington based Ikea store, there was a large children’s department, including a supervised play area where children can go for ¾ of an hour while the parents/carers carry on shopping. Furthermore there is competition that takes place every year, where children get the opportunity to design a toy and if chosen, the design becomes a physical product and is sold in store! I was surprised to find out that Ikea is named after the founder Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd, the farm where he grew up, and Agunnaryd, the nearby village. Ikea is most well-known for flat pack furniture. This concept started in 1956, as bulky furniture was expensive to ship from IKEA’S MARKET LEVEL Ikea is aiming to appeal to people of all ages and genders from around the world. It offers a variety of low price, functional and unique home furnishing products. Ikea allows customers to style their entire homes for a low price. An appealing part of Ikea is that many products are available to purchase and takeaway on the day. Strategies to keep prices to a minimum is achieved through buying in bulk, furniture is flat packed to cut down on transportation costs as well as assembly costs. Ikea stores are positioned outside of the city centres to keep prices even lower. Another benefit to the stores being positioned outside of city centres, is that it will attract more people to come and visit the store as they will be easier to get to, rather than have to drive through a busy city centre. HOW DO I SEE IKEA AS A BRAND My view of Ikea as a brand, is they sell affordable, practical and quirky products which appeals to many different ages. The stores offer an insight of product uses and ideas which you can/could incorporate in to any home. •The use of the café/restaurants offer you a place to sit and contemplate your potential purchases. •IKEA offers the whole sensory experience, being able to touch, smell and look at the products available. •The experience never feels rushed, no overselling from the staff, so more likely to purchase. IKEA AND SUSTAINABILITY

I decided to look at the IKEA 2020 sustainability report, in order for me gain even more in depth research into Ikea’s plans for a more sustainable future. A few of the sustainable actions already taking place are; •PVC and Lead are no longer used in products and mirrors. •The use of optical brighteners are never used in Ikea textile products. •82% of the heat energy used by the Ikea industry comes from biomass. •Less than 15% of waste generated in stores has gone to landfill. •Wasted wood is used to create new board for wardrobes, preventing it from being burned or going to landfill. •In comparison to 2010, the energy efficiency of Ikea stores has improved by 8%, and the stores distribution centres by 9%. SUSTAINABLE AIMS FOR 2020 •As a brand they want to continue to use less energy. •By 2020, Ikea aims to be seen as number one home furnishing retailer for operating in a way that is better for people and the environment. •See a 31% increase in awareness annually on 2 strategic areas related to people and planet positive topics.

MOLLY DAVIES

IKEA FASHION

For my sketchbook Ikea research, I firstly created 3 visual mood boards, including images of ‘Ikea fashion’ and accessories. This Ikea fashion trend is often seen within street style scenes, particularly the Tokyo street style scene. The way in which they incorporate Ikea products into their outfits, such as wearing upcycled Ikea bags and turning them into jackets, hoodies and shoes, creates a youthful and cool aesthetic to the outfits. This inspired me to think outside of the box when creating my upcycled product, making sure to appeal to Generation Z and suit to the style of Ikea.

IKEA IKEA IKEA

MOLLY DAVIES

IKEA STORE VISIT

MOLLY DAVIES

IKEA STORE VISIT The university organised for us to go and visit the Ikea Warrington store. We had the opportunity to see inside the main offices, have a tour of the store and meet a member of the senior staff; Paul Fishwick. Upon arrival Paul told us some fundamental information about the Warrington Ikea store. The Ikea store has been based at Warrington for 31 years, and was the first Ikea store to open in the UK. I was fascinated to found out that the first ikea store should have been opened in Wembley rather than Warrington. They certainly made the right decision to open in Warrington, open 31 years and still going strong! The store visit to the Warrington Ikea was an insightful experience and allowed me to gain more personal and current information about Ikea. Below are some facts I found out I found out from the Warrington store visit. •Pioneer in waste management. •All of the cardboard and plastic is sold. •Less than 4% of waste went to landfill. •The store has had Solar panels on the roof for 25 years. •Last August the store didn’t distribute a catalogue- brought more customers to the store- the store didn’t have a noticeable drop when the catalogue wasn’t distributed. •The store has 46 self-service aisles. •The price tickets are re-cycled and re-used. •The ‘Off-White’ collaboration will only be available in certain worldwide Ikea stores. •The store still uses and sells animal fur, however the animal is not killed for the purpose of being used in rugs and cushions etc. •The first floor is the first 5 showrooms-gets the customer excited and inspired- more persuaded to make purchases. •The Warrington Ikea store has been voted one of the top 5 stores worldwide. •The store offers half term activities, predominantly being aimed at families and children-links to the brands ethos of ‘children being the most important people’. •Old mattresses are re-cycled and refurbished- changing lives in Cheshire organisation. •Ikea products are made out of bamboo rather than hard wood- more sustainable, organic, attractive and practical. •The store is no longer using/selling plastic straws- links to the sustainable ethos of Ikea. •Damaged products can still be sold-they are sold through the bargain corner for a cheaper price as they are not of the original high quality- upcycling-saves the product from being sent to waste. •They have an exciting upcoming collaboration with the brand Sonax. Creating Bluetooth portable speakers. This collaboration is aimed at the younger demographic, fitting into the Generation Z group. I believe this collaboration will reach out to generation Z and will increase the younger demographics interest in Ikea. •They are no longer using and selling Hallogen Bulbs. They use to much electric. LED bulbs are now sold and used in their light products. Lifetime is longer with LED bulbs. When browsing the Ikea website, I decided to take a look on the light bulbs and accessories section of the website to see if I could discover some more information on the brands reasoning and love for the use of LED bulbs and recycled batteries. I came across this quote “Good lighting makes us happier (and stops us bumping into things at night). Here you'll find light bulbs, dimmer switches, timers and batteries. We like LED light bulbs best – they use less electricity and last for up to 20 years. Why not start the change to LEDs and rechargeable batteries today? It’ll brighten up the future for your budget”. (Light bulbs and accessories , 2019) This quote shows that as a brand, Ikea are really passionate about creating high quality products and above anything else aim to please and leave the customer feeling satisfied.

MOLLY DAVIES

GENERATION Z

For me to understand Generation Z, I created a brief Generation Z mind map within my sketchbook. My mind map entailed key information about Generation Z such as ‘Comfortable with the use of technology and social media’, ‘accepting of fashions and diversity’, ‘Influence of the internet’ and ‘Generation Z are born between the years 1995-2012’. After gaining the fundamental information about generation Z, I have chosen to research further into generation Z, looking into characteristics, financial habits and comparing generation Z to previous generations, particularly millennials. Firstly I looked into a few characteristics of Generation Z. When researching into different characteristics of Generation Z, I came across a variety that I both agree and disagree with. In particular one characteristic I agree with are that people within the generation z group, have a wide range of friends from various ethnic, religious and racial groups. I believe this is down to our generation being brought up in a much more racially accepting time, and being familiar with seeing people of all different ethnicities and genders, in day to day life, on Television, films and music videos. A similar characteristic states that as a generation we have less traditional family backgrounds, for example we are more accepting of same sex couples. This again could be down to growing up in a more accepting time of LGBT rights and fostering/adopting, especially with more and more TV shows and films showcasing LGBT and broken families etc.

MOLLY DAVIES

RISE OF GENDER NEUTRAL CLOTHING

EXPRESS GENDER IDENTITIES

MOLLY DAVIES

PRODUCT

For my upcycled product I have made an innovative lamp shade aimed at the target market of Generation Z. I have based my lamp shade around the theme of sustainable graffiti style lettering, using the techniques of the laser cutting machine. I decided to research into designers who incorporate laser cutting techniques into their designs, so I could get a feel for the style and look I wanted to go for. A product designer that caught my attention was ‘Tord Boontje’. I particularly liked the circle effects used on the image of the left. This image inspired me to use circles within my lamp pattern. For my final pattern I decided to incorporate key words linked to sustainability such as ‘Re-use’, ‘Re-cycle’, ‘Re-duce’‘Upcycle’ and ‘Sustainability. These words add an upcycled look to the lamp shade, which I personally think adds a trendy aesthetic to the shade, appealing to Generation Z. When creating the lamp pattern, I firstly created a paper pattern using the original measurements of the lamp shade, and creating a similar curved shape. I then scanned in my pattern to the computer, therefore I could edit my graffiti sustainable lettering onto the pattern. I did this by using Adobe Illustrator. This was then ready to be sent to the laser cutter and cut out onto my chosen paper. I chose to use paper as it gives a transparent look.

MOLLY DAVIES

DEVELOPMENT

EXPERIMENTATION

FINAL IMAGE

MOLLY DAVIES

MARKETING

One way I will market my lampshade is through the Ikeaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Instagram page, as Generation Z often use social media, therefore attracting a large percentage of Generation Z. As Instagram is a highly influential social media platform, by marketing my innovative new lamp shade across this platform, users and consumers, particularly Generation Z will be influenced to purchase my product.

MOLLY DAVIES

REFERENCES •http://tokyofashion.com/all-over-print-harajuku-ikea-bag-kobinai/ •http://tokyofashion.com/checkered-japanese-street-fashion-in-harajuku-w-uniqlo-ikea-me-vans/ •https://1000logos.net/ikea-logo/ •https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/tokyo-fashion-week-street-style-spring-2019#73 •https://www.harpersbazaar.com.sg/fashion/all-of-dua-lipas-best-street-style-moments-so-far/ •https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2018-ready-to-wear/stella-mccartney •https://consent.yahoo.com/collectConsent?sessionId=3_cc-session_cfa178f2-a335-4e1e-a4d2-5c6da6d67710&lang=en-gb&inline=false •http://ytsnepal.org/blog/types-of-sustainability/ •https://naturebooth.ca/sustainability/ •https://www.tun.com/blog/sustainable-fashion-feels-good-and-looks-even-better/ •https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/fall-2016-couture/viktor-rolf/slideshow/collection •https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/fall-2019-ready-to-wear/stella-mccartney/slideshow/collection •https://www.fashionbeans.com/2016/asos-reclaimed-vintage-ss-2016-mens-lookbook/ •https://blackbox.sg/luxury/article/10_Weird_Fashion_Trends_Around_the_World •https://www.instagram.com/p/BT8dTYlFgfj/ •https://twitter.com/xavierlur/status/964085695714287616 •https://www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/collusion-asos-gen-z-brand-collection •https://www.perlesandco.co.uk/Tartan-fabric-Small-Tiles-Red-x10cm-p-108500.html •https://www.vanityteen.com/jadensmith/ •http://letscolabb.com/our-brands/genkstasy •https://tordboontje.com/category/lighting/ •http://www.stickpng.com/img/furniture/ikea-furniture/ikea-logo

MOLLY DAVIES