The 1969 IKEA catalogue launched a new lounge chair, KRÖKEN, under the heading “Fashionable furniture that’s also comfortable”. Designer Christer Blomquist spent a lot of time on ergonomics when developing this new lounge chair. The catalogue was quite poetic in its description: “Don’t you just long to try it? A super-comfy chaise-longue that lets your whole body relax. Your feet come up to a comfortable height, and you sit (or should we say lie?) as comfortably as you could ever wish.” The next year’s catalogue, 1970, also added: “It’s hardly a surprise that KRÖKEN has garnered so much attention in both the Swedish and foreign press.”
But KRÖKEN was not easy to ship, so it was discontinued. It appeared in the IKEA catalogue until 1974. And in the 1979 edition it made a comeback, this time in a flatter pack and with the name KROKEN.
