SHe’s a photographer of stars whose portraits have graced the covers of luxury magazines from Vogue to Vanity Fair, so when Annie Leibovitz announced that her latest collaboration would be with IKEA , I see, there was a lot to figure out.
Leibovitz, who was approached by the company during the pandemic, described the role as “a dream project for someone like me,” clearly driven by a love of affordable home goods and is not really relevant (although she plans to buy her niece an IKEA plate as a wedding present). Furthermore, the theme of the project is family.
Leibovitz traveled to seven countries and recorded various thoughts about his family, resulting in more than 20 photographs. The collaboration was unveiled at a Paris Fashion Week event, with Leibovitz’s photography on display. The space, which also includes a shop and cafe, will be open to the public until March 3rd.
She said it was enlightening to find different definitions of “family”, including commune-like living, three parents caring for a son, and a young couple moving in with an older widow. Ta. “The idea was that this was about home,” Leibovitz said. “It was just about these people’s lives. It was so powerful and emotional to get into these people’s lives.”
Of course, Leibovitz is more commonly found in the lives of the rich and famous. But she says her approach to photography doesn’t change to accommodate her subjects’ star status. “I don’t think sitting is more or less important,” she says. “It’s almost like a curse. We do everything with exactly the same intensity.”
The photographer, who started his career taking pictures for Rolling Stone magazine in the early ’70s, says he’s still satisfied and excited about his work now in his mid-70s. “One of the things that doesn’t get talked about enough is that it gets a lot funnier as you get older,” she says. “You know what you’re doing.” What’s her biggest lesson? “I don’t spend too much time on one subject. [any more],” she says. “If you don’t understand, [the picture] You’d better come back soon. ”
As well as her photography portfolio, Leibovitz has selected six photography mentors who have guided their own projects around the home, whose images are displayed here. They range from Nigeria’s Praiz Hassan, who photographed her best friend’s house, to Romania’s Toma Hrduk, who documented her partner and her dog. Particularly impressive is the work of Elena Kalinichenko, who is based in Kiev, Ukraine. Her images show her friends outside the ruins where her home once stood and a sign to the air raid shelter.
Leibovitz is not the first fashion figure to have ties to IKEA. Influential designer Virgil Abloh, who passed away in 2021, collaborated with the home goods store on a collection in 2018. The collection included a poster printed to look like an oversized Ikea receipt and a mat that read “No Trespassing” in his trademark Helvetica script.
The store’s blue Frakta bag was also the inspiration for the Balenciaga bag released in 2017. The price was he £1,600. IKEA has been kind to these fashion moments. After the outrage over the 1,600-pound bag, they released an ad for the “authentic” Frakta, emphasizing its $0.99 price and that “if it rustles, it’s real.”
