IKEA and Tom Dixon have revealed the results of their collaboration: a modular bed that "explores notions of adaptability and future-proofing".

Set to launch during Milan design week, Delaktig is a bed and sofa that can be modified into different styles of furniture throughout its lifetime.

As Dixon previously told a press conference previewing the 56th edition of Milan's Salone del Mobile, he sees the bed as an open-source "platform for living" that can be transformed through third-party add-ons.

IKEA and Dixon have now revealed they have been working with Swedish textile design company Bemz, which already specialises in covers for IKEA furniture, to manufacture accessories that will launch concurrently with the bed in 2018.

Dixon has also been working with 75 students from the Royal College of Art and Parsons School of Design in New York and Tokyo to invent new ways to modify the bed.

"It's turned into a raft, it's turned into a double decker bed, a sofa system for airports," Dixon said of the student projects. "It's a bed first but it can turn into anything."

"The bed becomes a sofa with my additions and even more with a network of sub-suppliers that will feed into this platform."

The bed has an aluminium frame – designed to be long lasting – and takes its cues from IKEA's bestselling Klippan sofa.

"Delaktig is an experiment that challenges the conventional methods of creation and distribution of furniture and explores the notions of adaptability and future-proofing," Dixon said.

Dixon's collaboration with IKEA was first announced during the Swedish brand's Democratic Design Day in June, where it also revealed a collaboration with Hay.

This kind of modular product is in-keeping with IKEA's move towards more sustainable production. The company's head of sustainability said last year that society had reached "peak home furnishings", and he outlined plans for a "circular IKEA" that will encourage visitors to repair and recycle items.

"I think this is the kind of project that more and more companies are going to have to look at," said Dixon at last year's press conference. "How you (a) bring longevity into something but (b) also flexibility into objects as well, just to reflect the way that everybody's living these days."

Delaktig will launch during Milan design week, where Dixon is this year presenting his Multiplex pop-up store concept at the cinema and gallery at Teatro Manzoni.

Bemz' first cover for Delaktig – said to be a "haute design/couture concept" – will also premiere at the event.