The ANTILOP high chair is one the longest-living products at IKEA. It is still in the range today, 30 years after being launched in January 1991. The idea was to make a highchair that was easy to bring along, with legs that were simple to attach and remove.
Generally speaking, IKEA develops products in a team including product developer, designer and engineer. The product developer outlines the functional requirements, the designer designs, and the engineer makes technical design drawings. But on this occasion, the engineer already had a firm idea of what the chair would look like, and calculated the optimum angle between the seat unit and legs to make the highchair as stable and safe as possible. To keep the price low, the design also had to be simple.
Over time, the highchair was given metal-coloured legs instead of white, and was fitted with a safety belt. However, it was soon discovered that the belt sometimes opened by itself, and posed a risk that the child might fall out. IKEA received eight reports that the belt had come undone, and in three cases the child had fallen out and received minor injuries. Immediately, IKEA issued a warning, telling everyone who had an ANTILOP at home to contact IKEA for a free replacement buckle. Otherwise, the design is the same today as it always was. ANTILOP has been in every issue of the IKEA catalogue since 1991.
