Few designers have made such an impact on the IKEA style as Karin Mobring. Karin was the first female designer at IKEA, with an eye for materials and a talent for designing comfortable, quality furniture with wide appeal. She was also part of designing the first STOCKHOLM collection in 1985. Karin’s work has inspired generations of designers and still does to this day.
Karin Mobring was born in Östersund in 1927. Her creative path began with ceramics, and in 1946 she moved to Stockholm to study at Konstfack, the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design. After a few year ‘s she gravitated towards furniture and enrolled in the school of renowned Swedish furniture designer Carl Malmsten, where she learned about craftsmanship, quality, and comfort.
After graduating, Karin returned home to work with her father, and she continued to design furniture. Then, in 1964 she designed a wooden chair that was put on display at the Stockholm Furniture Fair. It was spotted and admired by Ingvar Kamprad, and Karin was hired to join the IKEA design team that same year, working alongside Gillis Lundgren, Erik Wørts and Bengt Ruda.
Over her career, Karin Mobring would create more than 100 designs for IKEA. She made her IKEA debut in the 1966 IKEA catalogue, with several designs including the PEGGY highchair, NIRAK hall mirror and INGRID chair.
Prolific designs
By the 1970s Karin was regarded as one of the most productive and trendsetting IKEA designers. Her furniture design became prolific, from the LONDON series of chairs and footstools in lacquered beech with an upholstered seat and back, to the AMIRAL armchair, launched in 1970.
Featuring a steel tubing frame with the seat, back and armrests made from high-end saddle leather from a local saddle maker in Killeberg, AMIRAL was a hit. But the saddlery couldn’t keep up with the demand for the leather details and the construction of the frame meant the chair couldn’t be flat-packed, so it was discontinued. It did return later in a flat-pack version, upholstered in canvas.
Karin Mobring was a versatile designer. While the NATURA armchair illustrated her knowledge and respect for classics and craftsmanship, her KARUSELL coffee table made of particleboard and KATINKA chair and sofa in bent, lacquered plywood, designed in the popular 60s futuristic style, that captured the spirit of the era.
With the launch of KRUMELUR in 1972, Mobring was targeting a relatively new market for IKEA – the younger generation, who weren’t looking for the classics found in their parents’ homes. They wanted bold prints, bright colours and new materials, along with affordability. When it was launched, KRUMELUR with its curved, lacquered metal frame and seat constructed from fire hose fabric, propped with generous cushions, was featured on the front cover of the IKEA catalogue with the modest price tag of just 68 SEK.
The 1980s were largely defined by material wealth and extravagance, and IKEA faced an interesting challenge, to create “new antiques” for customers seeking a bourgeois look for their home. In keeping with the IKEA philosophy of design for all, later termed democratic design, it seemed unfair that the most beautiful Swedish furniture should be reserved for the few.
Together with Czech designer Tomas Jelinek, Karin was chosen to work on the IKEA collection STOCKHOLM, with classical, comfortable, and elegant furniture that most customers could afford. The result was launched in 1985 and was designed as a tribute to the best of Swedish and Central European furniture tradition. In the 1986 IKEA catalogue the collection was described as “New Classics”.
A lasting legacy
More than half a century on, a renewed interest in her work has made Karin Mobring a big name in auction houses around the world and an important figure in the IKEA rich design history. The growing trend for Scandinavian design, coupled with a growing interest in vintage IKEA furniture means classics such as the NATURA armchair and the original AMIRAL chair in leather are highly sought after on the vintage market.
Her respect for craftsmanship, the understanding of the importance of materials, and a talent for creating versatile, timeless products continue to inspire.
Celebrating women in design: Upcoming exhibition at IKEA Museum
Adding to her lasting legacy, the IKEA Museum in Älmhult will open a brand-new exhibition titled “Trailblazers – Design Her Way” on June 4. This powerful new exhibition will celebrate the work and stories of women in design, with Karin Mobring prominently featured among them.
Karin's meadow
In 1993 Karin Mobring retired from IKEA to live permanently in her family home at Frösön in Jämtland, Sweden. She passed away in 2005 at the age of 78. A small meadow and a beach at Frösön are named after her.
Since Karin didn’t have any heirs, she donated her inheritance to the Fistula Hospital outside Adis Abeba, to aid women and children. Every year 25 000 kronor is given to the hospital, from the Karin Mobring Fund, managed by the Swedish-Ethiopian organization.
Thank you to the IKEA Museum and IKEA.com for sharing this story!
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