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While Ikea continues to thrive globally, it's a well kept secret that the Swedish giant also owns a smaller furniture chain, called Habitat. Habitat was founded in sixties London by Sir Terrence Conran and has a similar ethos to Ikea. Its mission was to provide affordable, well-designed furniture. Forty years later, the store is now part of the Ikea family, is expanding globally and now has outposts across Europe and even in Thailand.

Conran, the founder was and still is regarded as a visionary in the world of design. Pre- Starck and Graves, it was Conran who saw the potential of well designed objects and furniture for the home.

His vision is nicely expressed in this quote.

"My belief is simply that if reasonable and intelligent people are offered something that is well-made, well-designed, of a decent quality, and at a price they can afford, then they will like it and buy it."

Conran's torch at Habitat is now in the hands of another design visionary
Tom Dixon. Dixon is a self-taught designer who started producing his own line in his mid-20s. In the 80s and early 90s, he was a pioneer in the use of re-use of materials, for example he once used a frying pan as the seat for a chair.

Habitat is a very different brand from Ikea, it doesn't have the same focus on affordability. Ikea sees Habitat as the brand you graduate to after having set up your first home. The brand now wants to move further up-market and distance itself from Ikea.

This means a continued focused on pushing the design envelope. Habitat will be at this week's Milan Furniture Fair, for the first time in its history. It's there to showcase its VIP Collection (a collection of furniture and household objects designed by non-traditional designers like sports stars, musicians and actors). It's a move that makes Habitat more interesting than its Main Street competitors and parent, Ikea. In addition, the company is hoping that Milan will help them to build contacts for future collaboration with other individuals from the world of design.

Pol Oxygen has great coverage of this year's Milan Furniture Fair