Few people have heard of him, but they definitely own his creation. Gillis Lundgren was a Swedish furniture designer and one of the first four employees IKEA hired. He was responsible for designing the popular Billy bookshelf, which sold more than 140 million units. IKEA manufactures 15 Billy bookshelves per minute. Initially, Gillis Lundgren studied painting in Lund, Sweden. Later, he received an education in drawing at Malmö Institute of Technology before gaining practical experience in drawing at Gumaelius advertising agency in Malmö. At the age of 23, Gillis joined the company as an adviser, helping Ingvar Kamprad create the IKEA catalogue. Gillis created the logo, drew illustrations for the catalogues, and photographed the items, while Ingvar described them.
In 1954, Gillis was employed as a full-time advertising manager at IKEA. Very soon he got involved in developing the furniture collection. Over time, Gillis gained important responsibilities in product development at IKEA and developed numerous icons for the increasing collection of products. Due to his inventiveness and interest in new materials and solutions, he developed more than 400 products for IKEA. Initial designs of the 1950s include the ÄGGET armchair, the BÅSTAD Axminster rug, and the REGAL shelves.
The inspiration for Gillis Lundgren for the TORE drawer unit, which he considers his favourite product among all his creations, came from a kitchen unit created for the 1950s PAX collection. He believed that the dimensions of the product made it useful not only in the kitchen but also in other places, as long as it was created using lacquer material. The TORE unit was introduced in the IKEA catalog of 1960 and soon became the most successful IKEA product. The TORE unit is now considered part of furniture history and is exhibited in the collections of the IKEA Museum and Nationalmuseum in Sweden.
But when Gillis introduced the innovative IMPALA furniture seating with its futuristic design, colorful cushions, and low base made of chrome, Ingvar Kamprad was sure that IKEA would sell only five units of this furniture. However, to his surprise and Gillis’s delight, this piece became highly popular. Nevertheless, the manufacturing process of IMPALA was difficult and expensive, and it was removed from the collection after only one year of production.
In the late seventies of the previous century, Gillis Lundgren drew for the first time his sketch of the bookcase called BILLY on the reverse side of the paper napkin using the idea of technician Arne Hall. “We used to work that way very often. Ideas are fragile, and they have to be fixed instantly when they appear,” says Gillis.
Gillis never actually ceased working. After he retired, Gillis continued consulting for IKEA until his eighties, and he was awarded the Tenzing Prize in 2012, honoring Tenzing Norgay, the guide who led Edmund Hillary to the top of Everest. Gillis was praised not only for his work as a designer but also for being “the man who, with a sense of logistics and efficiency,” inspired IKEA to start selling flat packages in large volumes. The works of Gillis are not forgotten either. In 2023, MILA was released again in royal blue and yellow hearts to celebrate the 50th anniversary of King Carl XVI Gustaf ascending the throne, and in 2024 the 1968 PUCK easy chair became SOTENÄS.
References:
Dezeen (n.d.) Gillis Lundgren. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/tag/gillis-lundgren/ [Accessed: 30 October 2026].
IKEA Museum (2025) Gillis Lundgren: Designer and strategist. Available at: https://ikeamuseum.com/en/explore/designer-portraits/gillis-lundgren/ [Accessed: 30 October 2026].
Wikipedia (n.d.) Gillis Lundgren. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillis_Lundgren [Accessed: 30 October 2026].
