IKEA’s Biggest Failure is Having a Moment

Fashion always comes full circle…and it seems that furniture is no expectation. In the 1980s, IKEA introduced the a.i.r. Sofa, which was, you guessed it, an inflatable sofa that could be inflated with a hair dryer. However, they didn’t mention that the hair dryer needed to be on the “cool” setting, so a crop of melted sofas followed the release. And we all remember the inflatable furniture of the 90s. Now, furniture that looks eerily similar is gracing the pages of Architectural Digest. While it might be some time (or maybe not…) before a style like this is in actual, real homes, it’s a cool reminder that a failure is sometimes a failure because of timing, and that the design process is iterative and you never know what will come back around. At least, that’s the excuse I’m going to use about why I have all of my old sketchbooks to this day.