Personalized accessories in a collaboration between Product design and Fashion
The muse that inspired artists, writers and fashion designers through the ages
Luisa Casati Stampa (1881-1957) was the richest woman in Europe in the early years of the 20th century, and as famous as she was notorious as a jet-setting queen. She threw lavish parties in Paris and Venice, wore live snakes as jewelry, and could walk naked in the moonlight with her domesticated cheetahs in diamond leashes.
"Her contemporaries could not
decide whether she was a
vampire, a bird of paradise, a
androgynous, a goddess, an enigma
or simply a madman."
Judith Thurman - The New Yorker
Scandalous and headstrong, she has fascinated and been the decadent muse of artists, writers and fashion designers of that time and today.
Eight contemporary accessories inspired by Luisa Casati Stampa
For a few weeks now, she has been the muse for the first-year Product design and Fashion students, creating contemporary and personalized accessories for a person who wants to make her whole life a work of art.
VESTIGE by Adrian Musa, Nadja Olsson and Rojina Zabihitari
"Crumpled metal like a discarded bag, soft leather like a memory of a lost splendor and the snake that was then a piece of jewelry but today is a reminder of what was. Beauty, luxury, pain and misery, a summary of a life."
GEMMA by Gabrielle Greiff, Johannes Söderbäck Kirksaether and Leia Edman
"To pay tribute to Luisa Casati and her unique way of challenging societal norms, we have created a knee jewel that symbolizes the power of protecting one's identity and expression in a world of expectations."
VOLUME by Axel Svensson, Edit Hulting and Emil Hauberg Biering
"VOLUME explores the book as an accessory. The fairytale life of Casati is the basis for the design of the bag, which exposes the user's possessions in an open book surrounded by mystery."
VÄCK by Clara Samor, Erik Marklund and Pontus Mattsson
"The headdress is a mix between Luisa Casati's desire to be the center of attention and the desire to withdraw socially. An armor in which the wearer chooses when to expose or shield herself."
OBSCURA Fanny Gref, Mia Ekström and Mikael Westman
"Let art speak where words are silent. The silver jewelry becomes a voice of light and product design, an expression without language. Through its lines and reflections, it conveys presence, mystery and a living artistic vision."
HINTER by Julia Bianco Sommer, Luis Enrique Rodriguez Brunet, Theo Sternehäll
"From the German Hinterland, meaning "back country" or "inner country", Hinter is an accessory that creates a flourishing foreground where the wearer becomes the subject of a work of art."
ARTICLES by Alvaro Sanchez, Jack Braun Thessing, Jennifer Boberg Jegréus and John Ölén
"In a time when fashion is increasingly performative, we allow our accessory to be a sculptural extension of the body. Like a snake shedding its skin, it bears traces of the past but pulsates with new birth."
LUNAM by Jacob Borgenstierna Ploski, Jane Elliotte Svahn, Martin Sundqvist, Simon Sandkvist
Luisa Casati's denial of function and her eccentric lifestyle at the beginning of the 20th century, combined with contemporary digital addiction, have given rise to a modular system that immortalizes the spirit of Casati.
Guest teacher in the course
Nils Harning, Christopher Robin Nordström, Catharina Herré/Palmgrens, Lina Blass, Jon Johansson/Etnografiska Museet.
Course coordinators: Peter Nylander, Senior Lecturer Product design and Elisabeth Yanagisawa, Assistant Professor Fashion.
