Ikea accused of plagiarism by textile artist

Textile artist Katja Beckman Ojala has accused Ikea of plagiarism regarding a wall hanging featured in the company’s new ‘Konstrunda’ collection. Ojala claims the blue woven piece is too similar to her own work, which has been exhibited at Stockholm Design Week and Paris Art and Design Week.

Ojala expressed concern that the similarity is not a coincidence, suggesting that the company’s approach involves creating items that are similar enough to existing works to be recognizable, yet sufficiently different to avoid copyright infringement. She noted that this appears to be a recurring pattern for the retailer.

Ikea has denied the allegations, stating that plagiarizing another designer’s work contradicts its values and working methods. The company maintains that it follows an independent design process.