A discussion with designer Ilse Crawford on her fragrance collection and editor of Us and Our Planet book Maisie Skidmore feature in this video of yesterday's highlights from IKEA Festival, which Dezeen is publishing as part of our partnership with IKEA during Milan design week.

Hosted by Swedish presenter and journalist Amie Bramme Sey, the video showcases the events stage and installations that are part of the festival. Sey met designer Crawford who discusses her fragrance collection, which includes eight new candles informed by natural scents.

"We wanted to make a scent that was in a way directly connected to nature but also strongly connected to the identity of IKEA, so to do something around wood – Scandinavian wood, the interiors of wood, the wooden floors, the wooden furniture – felt clear," said Crawford.

"We went to one of the best perfume labs in Paris and worked on a proper fragrance with all the complexity that you would normally get from a top-level scent."

The newly published US and Our Planet which IKEA collaborated with Phaidon Press on earlier this year also feature. The book explores "the life of people living all around the world and how they can create happier and more sustainable ways of living".

In the video, editor of Us and Our Planet Maisie Skidmore discussed how the IKEA and Phaidon team travelled the world and visited people in their homes to gain knowledge of "home as a concept" through the lenses of time, space, food, rest, play and togetherness.

"We wanted to speak to a huge array of people," Skidmore said. "Activists, artists, entrepreneurs. We spoke to athletes. We looked at families – there's one women who looks after a forest in Japan, for example. We wanted as diverse array of people as we could, and to get a sense of the little things that make different ways of living unique."

Also included in yesterday's festival line up was a talk about the new IKEA print range created in collaboration with Marimekko, which was informed by the self-caring rituals of Nordic sauna culture.

Speakers included Marimekko creative director Rebecca Bay, IKEA of Sweden designer Mikael Axelsson and IKEA of Sweden range and design leader Henrik Most.

In the video, Sey also met Latin American creators Diana Ordonez and Trini Guzman, who discussed a colourful mural painted for IKEA Festival that represents carnival design.

Sey also spoke to Swedish author and economics professor Micael Dahlén who discussed the future of wellness and design.

"The future needs to be playful," said Dahlen "It's our opportunity and responsibility to be fun, be playful and experiment."

A short "throwback talk" saw learning and activity manager at IKEA Museum, Per-Olof Svensson discuss IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad's interest in Italy and the importance of the brand's research into the diversity of people's homes.

Yesterday also saw Marcelis and range and design manager lighting Anna Granath discussing the importance of atmosphere and lighting in a talk to mark the launch of Marcelis' IKEA lighting range.

The winner of the IKEA Open Design Competition, Marcus Badman, was also revealed. The competition was part of H22, a city Expo in Helsingborg, Sweden where IKEA Design students across the globe were asked to create a natural shelter that would protect them in the wilderness.

Badman's winning design aims to deepen the relationship between humans and nature and references "his local setting of an island in the Stockholm archipelago where nature grows wild".

Other highlights included a workshop with IKEA designers and performances from Italian rapper Ghali and London-based musician Jamie XX.

Running from 6 to 12 June, IKEA Festival includes exhibitions, installations and talks alongside the Swedish furniture brand's latest product launches. Dezeen is a partner for IKEA Festival and will be publishing video highlights from the festival throughout the week.

Dezeen is a partner for IKEA Festival and will be publishing video highlights from the festival throughout the week.

Find out about the full programme here.

IKEA Festival takes place from 6 to 12 June 2022 at BASE, Via Bergognone 34, 20144 Milan, as part of Milan design week 2022. See our Milan design week 2022 guide on Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.

Dezeen x IKEA Festival

This article was written by Dezeen for IKEA as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.