Collections that don't compromise on their own creative identity
"The challenge has been to find a good balance between your own aesthetic and that of the fashion brand without compromising too much on someone's creative identity," says Ronja Berg about the project.
Together with Marte Stensrud and the other final-year students at Mode, they have been given the task of interpreting each of the international fashion brands Marimekko, Matty Bovan, Nomen Nescio, Palmer//Harding, Per Götesson and Zandra Rhodes. The result is 11 collection concepts presented in a digital fashion show on February 10 at Stockholm Fashion Week.
"Collection that goes beyond my comfort zone"
"I've really tested my tastes, gone out of my comfort zone and developed extremely much in the work on my collection," says Marte Stensrud, who has interpreted fashion brand Matty Bovan.
-We have in many ways very different design styles, but that has also been the most exciting thing about the whole project. Finding the balance between how much is Matty Bovan and how much I am. The collection should feel like mine but at the same time show what brand I have interpreted.
During the course, which has lasted most of the autumn semester, the students have had digital meetings with their respective fashion brands. Guest teachers in the course have included fashion activist Bea Åkerlund, H&M's Head of Design Ann-Sofie Johansson, and Margareta van den Bosch, fashion designer and creative advisor at H&M.
I was very inspired to talk to Matty Bovan. After my first meeting with him, I tried to understand how he works and what he is inspired by. He told me he built worlds and how he did it. I then tried to interpret it in my own way, and build my own world that became a combination of what exists in the real world and the sparkle of my fantasy world. An important part of the collection was to combine materials that most people do not think fit together, exclusive materials together with cheap plastic materials, such as thick wool together with a plastic organza-like fabric, or sequins together with faux fur. Matty Bovan's signature style with sloping ruffles and puff shafts also became an important element to bring into my interpretation, Marte says.
Collection grounded in "take-to-be mentality" and textile traditions
Ronja Berg has in turn interpreted Per Götesson, who graduated Beckmans in 2013 and who after an MA in Menswear from the Royal College of Art established himself as a designer in London. Choice of materials, textile traditions and small town vs big city are important parts of her interpretation.
-A lot of my interpretation has rested on material choices and on the things that I myself recognize myself in. For example, to come from a small place and move to a larger city, and to create clothes for the person moving between the two worlds. There is also a sense of humor in Per Götesson's way of handling material that has inspired me. In her collection, she has returned to her textile upbringing in Dala-Järna and the passed knowledge of textiles and textile traditions for generations.
-The quest to save, patch, inherit and cook has permeated my upbringing in Dala-Järna. I have experienced that it is strongly linked to the textile craft techniques that the women in the family have engaged in. Scraps that are always saved to be used in a patchwork later, and outgrown clothes that fit between the farms. I wanted to convey that mentality and be in during the work, to take advantage of what I had around me, says Ronja.
The textile craft techniques have been included as inspiration for the collection's materials. For example, a dress is made of care labels and is inspired by patchwork techniques and a skirt consists of interlinked buckles and takes its inspiration from the repetitive interconnected knots of knitting.
Here you can see the show
Take part in the collections at the digital show on February 10 at 15.00 at Stockholm Fashion Week. After that, parts of the collections will be displayed in NK's storefront until February 22.
