For the first time our own in-house design teams at IKEA of Sweden, in collaboration with expertise from the fashion industry, have designed and developed the new IKEA co-worker clothing collection called “Me and IKEA”. The collection that aims to reflect the up-to-date retailer that we want to be will roll out in all the IKEA customer meeting points beginning in March 2020 and finishing in March 2022.

The in-house IKEA designers have created the collection with Democratic Design as guiding philosophy: form, function, quality, sustainability and low price. This is the same way we design and develop the IKEA home furnishing range. The collection lets co-workers in all the IKEA customer meeting points, mix and match to create outfits for their roles and personalities, while reflecting a modern and forward-looking IKEA.

By co-workers. For co-workers!

During the two-year design process, different IKEA co-workers were interviewed around the world about their wishes and about how our co-worker clothing can support our daily work and comfort. We also conducted a “wear trial” together with five IKEA stores around the world. A diverse group of almost 400 co-workers gave valuable feedback that helped improve the collection.

Sustainability in sight

The new IKEA co-worker clothing uses recycled polyester, cotton from more sustainable sources and Tencel, a fiber made of wood pulp from trees grown and replaced on specialized farms. Efficiently using resources should lead to production with minimal waste of materials, water, energy and chemicals. Plus, the clothing should be recyclable when reaching the end of its lifespan.

On top of this, the ambition is to recycle the old co-worker clothing into suitable fibers that can then be turned into new IKEA products. It's a learning opportunity for IKEA to investigate how textiles can be recycled on a bigger scale. This initiative is closely linked to the goals set by the IKEA Sustainability Strategy, People & Planet Positive, which includes turning waste into resources, sending zero waste to landfill.

New co-worker clothes as part of a bigger update in the IKEA visual identity

The new co-worker clothing collection is part of a bigger update of the IKEA visual identity that also includes a new font called Noto IKEA that replaces Verdana, a refreshed IKEA logo and a new range of disposables (such as coffee cups), a new concept for food packaging, updated IKEA Food shopping tools (such a trays), new trade dress for use in all IKEA Food meeting points and new food merchandising equipment, among others.

The complete set of updates will be implemented in different phases but the aim is to have all of them done by 2022-23.