Ikea Canada went viral after releasing a series of colorful couch slipcovers intended to honor LGBTQ communities.
The designs quickly drew mixed reactions. While some social media users lauded the inclusive line, others mocked the colorful creations.
"I am haunted by the bisexual ikea couch," one user tweeted.
The slipcovers, which the Swedish furniture giant has dubbed “love seats,” include 10 designs inspired by Pride flags celebrating individuals who are pansexual, transgender, lesbian, asexual, bisexual, nonbinary, gender fluid and two spirit.
The slipcovers were handcrafted by a group of designers “active in the 2SLGBTQ+ community,” Ikea Canada said in a press release, referring to the LGBTQ community, including two-spirit individuals. .
“The Love Seats serve as a platform upon which members and allies of the 2SLGBTQ+ community can feel safe to share their love stories with the world — whether those stories are about self-love, romantic love, family love, chosen love or community love,” the company said.
Ikea Canada also published stories of individuals whose gender or sexuality were represented by the slipcovers.
Social media users were quick to react to the new line.
Bianca Daniela Nachtman, who designed three slipcovers intended to honor pansexual, two-spirit and transgender people, said in Ikea Canada’s statement that “as a designer, I’ve always created items that allow for people to express themselves truly, and I was so happy to bring that into these Love Seats.”
The Pride slipcovers are being displayed at select Ikea stores in Canada. They are not available for purchase in stores or online.
Ikea U.S. marked Pride Month, celebrated in June, through a series of campaigns, including announcing that stores would donate 30% of the retail price from each sale in the month of the STORSTOMMA rainbow bags and ENEBY rainbow speaker covers to GLSEN, Inc., an organization supporting LGBTQ inclusion in K-12 schools, up to $50,000.
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The bags and speaker cover were still available at many stores Thursday, according to the Ikea inventory search. The large bag is selling for $2.99 and the small bag for 99 cents while the front for the speaker is $7.99
Kelly Tyko contributed reporting.
