IKEA × Annie Leibovitz
Life at Home
Turning brand research into a global cultural platform, with IKEA’s inaugural Artist in Residence, Annie Leibovitz.
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The brief
IKEA’s annual Life at Home Report surveys 37,000 people across 37 countries. It revealed a striking insight: 48% of people globally feel their life at home is not reflected in media.
To close that gap, IKEA partnered with Annie Leibovitz and YW3 to turn the report into a multi-year global brand campaign documenting real homes, turning internal research into cultural storytelling, photography and global experiences.
YW3 delivered
Talent PartnershipStrategyPortrait ProductionFilms & SocialExhibitionsMentorship ProgramGlobal PR
The results
Results A multi-year global platform
- 25original portraits documenting homes across 7 countries
- Globalcultural activations, including Milan Design Week and museum installations
- 200K+IKEA employees amplifying worldwide
Cultural signal
48% don’t see their home in media. Annie Leibovitz photographed it.
The insight came from research. The answer came from culture: one of the world’s most recognized photographers in real homes, then on the walls of Milan Design Week, the IKEA Museum and a Paris exhibition alongside emerging photographers she mentored.
Research × portraitureDesign weekOpen call mentorship
Behind the lens
The residency, from the inside.
A five-minute behind-the-scenes film following Annie Leibovitz into real homes around the world. Sound on.
The ecosystem
One residency. A full earned, owned and paid ecosystem.
Annie Leibovitz’s portraits of real homes were the anchor. Around them, YW3 helped build a platform that moved from a launch in Milan to a digital destination, a Paris Fashion Week pop-up and the IKEA Museum in Sweden.
- Launch in MilanThe residency was introduced in Milan during Salone del Mobile week, April 2023.
- A digital destinationA dedicated Life at Home Artist in Residence site, with Annie’s story, the portraits and the open call.
- Paris Fashion WeekA four-day pop-up exhibition at IKEA+ in Paris, with local, Paris and international press and influencers invited.
- The IKEA MuseumThe exhibition then traveled to the IKEA Museum in Älmhult, Sweden.
- PaidBranded content with Condé Nast, including a Vogue feature on the partnership.
- Owned and earnedAnnie Leibovitz debuted all seven countries on her own channels, about 139K likes on Instagram alone, alongside coverage from The Guardian, Dezeen, Wallpaper, BBC News, Elle, Vogue France and more.
In Vogue
The artist’s own channel: all seven countries, about 139K likes on Instagram
Annie Leibovitz debuted each country on her own channels, March 1 to 7, 2024. Embedded from Instagram.
And on Facebook: six country launches in one week
Embedded from Annie Leibovitz’s Facebook page. Her X account was inactive by the 2024 launch.
Into culture
From Milan to Sweden to Paris.
The program extended into cultural activations: a launch at Salone del Mobile in Milan, installations at the IKEA Museum in Sweden, and a global open call mentorship program where emerging photographers were mentored by Leibovitz and featured alongside her work in a Paris exhibition. Coordinated global PR generated hundreds of press pickups.
Behind the lens: on location with Annie Leibovitz
The IKEA+ launch, Paris Fashion Week, February 2024
- Research to platformThe Life at Home Report, turned into a multi-year cultural platform.
- Human, real homesAnnie Leibovitz’s portraits of real homes around the world.
- Design and fashion cultureIKEA integrated through global event programming.
The takeaway
A research report became a cultural platform. Real homes, seen through Annie Leibovitz’s lens, shown where design and culture gather.
YW3 delivered
- Talent Partnership
- Strategy
- Portrait Production
- Films & Social
- Exhibitions
- Mentorship Program
- Global PR
- Client
- IKEA
- Artist in Residence
- Annie Leibovitz
- Activations
- Salone del Mobile, Milan · IKEA Museum · Paris
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