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Why Kanye West wants to work with IKEA

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Rapper, producer and wannabe renaissance man Kanye West has declared his lofty and surprising ambitions to design for Ikea and has called for the Swedish company to collaborate with him on a furniture range. During an interview on BBC Radio 1 with DJ Annie Mac, West said: “I have to work with Ikea, make furniture for interior design, for architecture.” He even went so far as to speak on behalf of the masses (he does this a lot), declaring that he felt students would want to say: “Yo Ikea, allow Kanye to create, allow him to make this thing because you know what, I want a bed that he makes, I want a chair that he makes.” Does this man's hubris know no bounds?

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The claims are not without merit though. West actually visited Ikea's headquarters in Amhult, Sweden earlier this year. However, the furniture company has so far declined to comment on any form of collaboration. The interview, which aired earlier this week, follows a 2013 rant he gave on the same radio station about architecture and design. West told Zane Lowe that he was working with five architects at a time, and revealed he is frustrated he's not taken seriously as a real designer. The musician has since launched a hugely popular fashion range with Adidas.

I have to work with Ikea, make furniture for interior design, for architecture” Kanye West

West has been very vocal about his passion for architecture and design in the past. On a visit to Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2013, he told students that he felt “The world can be saved through design.” He also set up his own design company named DONDA in 2012, hoping to assemble a team of architects, designers and directors to work with him. You can't fault the ambition and drive of course, but some of it feels more than a little misplaces. Maybe he should stick to the rhymes?

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In related news, Ikea recently announced a collaboration with Danish brand Hay, following the success of collections by designers Ilse Crawford and Piet Hein Eek, and has just published its AW16 Lookbook, which examines the furniture design trends of the upcoming season. The brand also recently unveiled a new campaign from the Stockholm-based agency Acne, which imagines what life would be like if people in the 17th century has Instagram. The spot that forms the basis of the campaign (below) was directed by Tompa & Rondo (duo Tomas Skoging and Filip Nilsson), and was shot on location in Budapest.

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