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Wrapping up the catwalk season, we put our spotlight on the labels to keep an extra eye on for the next spring.
By OLIVER DAHLE & JOHAN MAGNUSSON
During Milan Men’s Fashion Week, Han Kjøbenhavn presented their SS22 menswear collection through the fashion film Staying on The Moon. It features model Sacha Eusebe depicted as a giant in a dystopian afterworld and represents the concept of the collection as a whole — being true to yourself, the emotion of feeling distant or misunderstood, but still sincere to oneself.
— There seems to be an expectation of people adapting to the norms of the society, founder and creative director Jannik Wikkelsø Davidsen explained, continuing,
— I have always loved the imperfect and the unknown. I believe it’s important that one should be allowed to be yourself. The importance of being yourself shined through in the collection through several statement looks.
The palette of the collection was in black, white, and silver hues, with a touch of green. Though, the colours were not the most salient of the collection. What was most prominent was the voluminous, over-dimensioned proportions and the contrasting combinations. Above all, the collection was an ode to let everyone really shine through and present their true self.
The Swedish artist and fashion designer has been active since 2009.
— For the last seven years, I’ve mostly worked as an artist doing installations, art projects and exhibitions. This season’s fashion show was the first one since 2015, she tells, continuing,
— My work evolves around topics processing how we look at the female body as an object to please a crowd, as well as questioning the rules and production methods within the fashion industry.
What did you show at Fashion Week Stockholm?
— This was not a collection in the sense that the pieces shown belong together through a specific theme or season, but a collection of garments that exist in my universe of designs at the moment. Some have been around since autumn 2015, some were finished just minutes before the show. A snap shot of where my brand is right now. I will not be working with seasons any more — I am going all in on my own organical pace of designs coming and going.
— But it was a big moment for me to show my garments in the setting of my then ongoing solo exhibition at Misschiefs Takeover. As a nomadic platform for wxmen artists started by Paola Bjäringer, Misschiefs is the place to keep an eye on for news on artists you might not already know about. And for me, finally, I got my whole universe of installations, objects, and fashion into one room. A very safe space for me.
The reception afterwards, Palmqvist tells, has been great, shining light on her thematics, cuts, and casting as a welcome addition to the fashion week theme. Next out is a re-launch of her online store in the coming weeks.
— It’ll be built to better fit my brand and way of working. Apart from clothing, I will finally start selling objects and artworks away from bodies and size systems. Excited to see how that will come along! she concludes.
Minna Palmqvist is also part of exhibition Att Konstruera ett jag at RIAN design museum in Falkenberg until November 21st.
Photography: Isak Berglund Mattsson-Mårn
The Finish design house presented the SS22 collection during Copenhagen Fashion Week, marking newly appointed creative director Rebekka Bay’s debut. Bay, who has a vast and impressive resume, most recently worked at Uniqlo as creative director for their Global Innovation Center. A position where she worked in close contact with Marimekko since the two brands have been collaborating on capsule collections for some time. On top of this, she has also been a member of Marimekko’s board since 2017.
Her debut collection for Marimekko showed that she is well aware of the house codes and what has paved the way for the brands’ success. Called New Folk, Bay’s found inspiration from the reoccurring elements found in folk wear around the globe, which has then been combined with designer Antti Kekkinen’s abstract prints and motifs, inspired by the botanical world. With paper-like cotton combined with soft linen and tercel, the collection is, more or less, in the brand’s praised A-silhouette.
As much as the arrival of a new creative director could be seen as a breath of fresh air, it is just a part of the brand’s journey.
— I am increasingly drawn to the idea of finding meaning in repetition — for example in music, the way songs are built on patterns and themes that repeat. It is present in nature too. At Marimekko, we add to the building blocks of the brand each season, everything working together as wardrobe over time and for years to come. It’s about seeing the beauty in perfect imperfections, Bay explains.
Acne Studios presented its women’s SS22 collection during Paris Fashion Week, described by the brand as: ”the clash of handcrafted historical pieces with a hyper futuristic attitude. A collection about self-identity and instinct, an experimentation that has always been the heart of Acne Studios”.
This was expressed in the collection, for example, with an updated version of the corset, that, instead of restriction, was more about liberation. The collection as a whole could also be seen as a liberation of some sort and there was a strong focus on the body and the interplay of what was being exposed and what was not. With mini skirts, crop tops, revealing chiffon, and closely fitting crochet, the body took the center stage. Another example was the — very — high platform shoes, which are made up of wood to embrace the feeling of handcrafts, but created in a futuristic shape.
The collection was developed around four main themes, all focused on contrasts and juxtaposition. Soft chiffon was combined with the stiffness from leather, plaid contrasted with lingerie, crochet and knits were reinforced and, as mentioned, the redefinition of the hand made corsets.
— It feels like the movement towards self-identity has been growing for a long time, but since the pandemic, and the death of office wear, it has become this global force. It has accelerated what I think was always going to happen. I wanted to make an instinctive and provocative collection that captured this attitude of experimentation, explained Johnny Johansson, creative director.
Tiger of Sweden SS22
For SS22, the Swedish brand returned to London Fashion Week. The show took place in the flourishing Montagu Square garden in central London. A dreamy backdrop to the presentation of the collection entitled ”Performance”. Performance in this context had an ambiguous meaning since it was a sort of description of the collection as a whole, but also in the presentation of the garments.
Design director Bryan Conway — who before taking over the creative lead at Tiger of Sweden has been working as head of menswear at the brand and as a designer both at Burberry and JW Anderson — opted for a livable collection, allowing the body to move freely.
The collection, which was very true to the tailored, minimal aesthetic that has made Tiger of Sweden famous, was infused with prosperous, flowing proportions, and sportswear that is easily adapted into an everyday wardrobe. All the clothes presented was permeated by a sense of motion, clothes that were easy to move in and clothes that created impactful effects while being moved. This leads back to the ambiguous name of the collection. The presentation opened with a choreographed dance, a performance, where models showed the moving qualities of the clothes.
At the presentation, we also saw the launch of the ALL Collection. A new permanent line of unisex-wear that focuses on wardrobe icons. The introduction of the line puts a highlight on the suit, a natural starting point seen to the legacy of Tiger of Sweden. Future drops of the ALL Collection will present a duffle coat, biker jacket, classic white shirts and crew neck knitwear. The collection, besides being unisex, has a big focus on sustainability and conscious fabric sourcing, sustainable dyeing techniques and trims are incorporated.