Swedish retailers Ikea and H&M are teaming up to create an “ideas factory” on the superior street that aims to seek out, mentor and advertise designers and little-scale makers in London.
Atelier 100, the first joint retail venture in between the world’s most significant household furniture retailer and one of the premier global manner chains will open in Hammersmith, west London, in Could and is launching an open up simply call on Thursday for creatives and producers based mostly in 100km of the store to support inventory its shelves.
The keep is in Ikea’s first Uk searching centre, Livat, which opened in February, and is meant to be a meeting put and office for designers and makers, encouraging to foster new alliances and concepts, and be an outlet for selling their creations. Profitable candidates will acquire up to £10,000 to help scale up their strategies into commercially practical items, and training and mentoring from Ikea and H&M insiders as effectively as other specialists.
All forms of assignments will be deemed, from attractiveness and manner to jewelry, art and even audio. The only limitation is that any end item ought to be small adequate for purchasers to carry away from the Hammersmith retail store. The look and come to feel of the store is also probably to adjust to mirror the interests and strategies developed by those associated.
“We want to be open up to strategies,” said Camilla Henriksson, the world-wide brand innovation supervisor for H&M. She reported the two shops required to “come nearer to the customers” and to regional people today with tips to be certain they ongoing to give what people want.
Marcus Engman, the main creative officer at Ikea’s mum or dad Ingka Team, explained the Hammersmith outlet was a 12 months-long pilot undertaking. If it is effective, even more venues will be created in other metropolitan areas close to the earth in potential.
He claimed that the concept for Atelier100 had been less than discussion for some time but was aspect of the search for new strategies to recreate high streets that have been strike by the pandemic and the change to on line procuring.
“You can both see it as a difficult time for retail or that there has never ever been additional option for acquiring the potential ways of retailing than proper now. We check out to have a optimistic outlook and see matters will get superior,” Engman reported.
The 1st 20 candidates for Atelier100, who have right until 24 April to set on their own forward, will be in a position to start out providing their present products and solutions in Hammersmith from subsequent month. It is hoped that new things made with assistance from the challenge will go on sale from October.
Atelier100 has now linked up with the artistic neighborhood all around London by cataloguing more than 200 organizations that are building and production goods these kinds of as vogue and furnishings and the components used to generate them.
The challenge is now making an attempt to spread the net wider with posters in London neighbourhoods as properly as a digital marketing campaign.
“Instead of using known routes we required to check out new techniques to locate creatives, new elements and smaller-scale producers present listed here in London,” mentioned Henriksson. “We see this as the begin of a pretty enjoyable journey. London is bursting with brilliant tips and inventive people today, we want to meet up with these creators exactly where they are.
“Opportunities in arts, leisure and recreation have been the most difficult hit by the pandemic. H&M and Ingka Group see this as an chance to have interaction directly with creatives and makers, to give them the visibility that they are entitled to and to assistance them in getting their organization to the following stage.”