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Press release: Ikea will move into fashion next, predicts Swedish author Stefan Engeseth
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When fashion becomes cyclical, Ikea could be the company that could come in and break the mould
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Swedish author and business thinker Stefan Engeseth predicts that Ikea’s next move will be into the world of fashion.
Mr Engeseth says that Ikea’s expertise lends itself easily to the world
of apparel. ‘Fashion is an expression of how to package and sell
design,’ he says.
He believes that fashion is in a repetitive cycle, stuck in history and needing renewal.
Ikea could offer both complete apparel items and composite parts that
customers could assemble themselves, says Mr Engeseth. The parts could
be “tailored” at home in inventive ways without the need for complex
sewing.
‘Emotionally, this connects people to how life was in the beginning,’
he says. ‘Customers can personalize and “hack” the designs.’
Jack Yan, publisher of the fashion magazine Lucire, and a branding expert in his own right, says Mr Engeseth’s ideas have a great deal of merit.
‘This taps in to its existing fan base, and just as importantly, Ikea
can make full use of its channels, outmanœuvring many existing fashion
labels,’ says Mr Yan. ‘Ikea has an international retail base and it has
distribution down to a fine art.’
For completed clothing, Mr Engeseth says that Ikea could offer Unisex
dressing, without the divisions of male and female, but as an ‘Ikea
member’.
He sees Ikea clothing as being high-tech and low-cost, harder-wearing than the apparel found in mass-market retailers.
‘We’re already seeing some shoppers go to outdoor and living stores to
buy longer-lasting clothing. Ikea already sells reusable Kr 4 bags that
are good and cheap; their clothes could be equally practical, as strong
as work clothes,’ he says.
‘You could even extend this hard-wearing philosophy into wedding
gowns—after all, there are already some people opting to get married in
Ikea stores.’
Mr Engeseth says Ikea could offer the clothing range to its fans first, so they have a “uniform”, much like football teams.
‘There are 57 million Ikea “family members” already, so let them be the
only ones who can buy the clothes first. This would be the longest
catwalk ever.’
He goes further, saying that those wearing Ikea clothing could qualify
for greater discounts at the point of sale. ‘Not only will this build
their tribe, it will “dress it up” to become a worldwide community.’
Fans who have furnished their homes could host ‘Ikea days’, where
dressed-up fans could invite their friends to their homes, which become
pop-up fan showrooms. ‘That could give Ikea millions of stores, and
greater exposure to how homes can be designed. That would bring in sales
and the company could treble its profits,’ he says.
About Stefan Engeseth.
About Jack Yan
Jack Yan founded Jack Yan & Associates. Among his company’s interests are business consulting, software and media, including the fashion magazine brand Lucire. He has authored or contributed to numerous books, including Beyond Branding, Typography and Branding and Nation Branding: Country Concepts and Cases. He ran for Mayor of Wellington in 2010 and 2013. His personal site Jack Yan.
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