Pretty much anything will fit inside it … whether you’re shopping, schlepping, doing the laundry or going to the beach. We dare you to claim that you don't partake in an IKEA blue bag hunt from time to time.

The origins of FRAKTA can be traced back to the 1960s, when the Swedish company IKEA, founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943, started selling more and more small home furnishing products … candles and such. The yellow FRACTA was developed to give customers a big carry all within which to collect their shopping at IKEA. The blue FRAKTA was made to provide customers with a reliable bag within which to carry their new stuff home.

FRAKTA has become a classic that’s found in almost every home.

Over the years, several variations on FRAKTA have made temporary appearances in limited editions. And in 2017 the luxury fashion brand Balenciaga designed a large blue tote bag that bore a striking resemblance to the FRAKTA, but in blue leather and with a significantly higher price tag, i.e. £1,705. IKEA was classy in its response, declaring itself to be "extremely flattered" … and proceeded to publish a guide for people to know how to identify a genuine IKEA FRAKTA, e.g. if it doesn’t rustle when you shake it, it’s not the real deal.

Millions of people have come up with crazy and imaginative ways to use FRAKTA: apple pickers and recycling collectors, parents with young children, football coaches, people rescuing swans, paddle boarders catching the wind, brides looking to pee without soiling their dress – the list is endless. And it can carry heavy loads. FRAKTA does after all mean “to freight” in Swedish … and it can comfortably handle a 50 kilogram load.

Most amusingly, when the New York City authorities introduced a rule that all dogs on public transport had to be transported within a bag, inventive owners of large dogs could soon be seen carrying them in FRAKTA bags with holes cut out for the legs.

In 2017, IKEA made a film tribute to FRAKTA. You can watch that HERE.

The FRAKTA is emblematic of the IKEA mission to serve everyone. In a recent US ad campaign that was supported by giant 6-metre-tall FRAKTA bags installed in various cities, a couple walks into a home filled with moving boxes, followed by a child carrying that big blue Ikea bag. Soon enough, the bag begins to glow, and the kid starts to pull out furniture items from it—a lamp, a dog bed, a stool, a floor lamp—until the entire home is furnished with IKEA products. The ever-so-slightly-cheesy ad (you can watch it HERE) is designed to highlight the IKEA commitment to affordable design, using a big blue bag that has become the most ubiquitous symbol of the IKEA brand’s vast offering.
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Story Idea: Melanie Giuffré
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References

ikeamuseum.com/en/explore/the-story-of-ikea/beloved-bag
ikeahackers.net/2023/09/ikea-blue-bag-van-gogh
reddit.com/r/myog
fastcompany.com/90908708/ikeas-big-blue-bag-just-bigger
dezeen.com/2017/04/19/balenciaga-luxury-version-iconic-blue-ikea-fakta-tote-bag-fashion-design
pinterest.com.au/lenasiskin/ikea-frakta-hacks

Images

1. IKEA FRAKTA Bag. Credit: IKEA.
2. Ingvar Kamprad (1926–2018), founder of IKEA
3. REMO Stripey Things in IKEA FRAKTA Bags
4. Secret World Wildlife Rescue uses IKEA bags for rescuing and releasing swans.
5. IKEA DIY face mask
6. Video: £30 DIY IKEA Ultralight Backpack - My First MYOG Backpack, 2018 by Richard Cheng. [Ed: MYOG stands for Make Your Own Gear. It's a thing.]
7. Jonas Holle off the coast, just north of Bondi, paddle board sailing, 2014.
8. Complying with the “dogs must be enclosed in a container on the subway” rule.
9. Keeping the wedding dress out of the toilet bowl
10. Pinterest "ikea frakta hacks' by Lena Siskin, 2024
11. Balenciaga blue leather homage to the IKEA FRAKTA bag, 2017
12. Multi-city US Big Blue IKEA FRAKTA bag promotion, 2023
13. Video: IKEA - The Blue Bag, 2017
14. Video: The Giving Bag, IKEA USA, 2023