Fresh / Fancy / Swedish

Sandra
Backlund was born in 1975 in Umeå, Sweden. After studies both in Art History,
the History of Ideas and preparatory textile training, she began her studies at
Beckmans College of Design in 2001. Sandra
Backlund is one of Sweden's most interesting designers. With her sculptural
three-dimensional hand-knitted garments, she has gained international attention
and she has in recent years made great success with her avant-garde hand
knitted creations. Her garments are wearable art, whose often oversized
sculptural forms, focuses on craftsmanship and quality. The garments that
slowly grows out of her knitting needles are a strong contrast to the fashion
industries turned up tempo. She works in a kind of three-dimensional collage
technique, where the garment is emerging of various hand-knitted pieces sewn
together. In the 2000s, more and more designers started to pay tribute to
slowness and the meticulous craftsmanship and Backlund's clothing have received
much attention for the thorough manual labor and artistic expressions that the
work resulted in.

The red, hand knitted dress in wool and mohair yarn, comes from the collection Don’t Walk S/S 2007. The dress was made already in 2005 as Backlund's contribution to the event FASHION FOR LIFE - THE FASHION MANIFESTATION TO ASSIST IN THE FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS, 2005.

The Swedish fashion designer Maxjenny based in Copenhagen is a internationally established fashion designer who works with sustainable fashion. Maxjenny had her breakthrough in 2003 with the fashion project Les Couleurs Nationales, influenced by the colors of Russian painter Léon Bakst. In 2006 she attracted attention when Madonna chose her design for the music video "Sorry".Maxjenny have had success with her clothes in countries like Japan, Germany and Holland. In the international edition of the magazine Bon in 2008, she was named one of five fashion designers who are reshaping the world. Since 2007, she works with Maxjenny art fashion & style, which focuses on fashion and primarily so-called smart materials, such as textiles that can identify an external stimulus and react in a controlled manner.

Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair was founded in
2004 by Astrid Olsson and Lee Cotter. They make men’s and women’s collections and
has retailers in 25 countries. Astrid Olsson is trained in tailoring, while
Lee Cotter is an autodidact with a background in retail and has previously
designed and created in-house fashion concepts. They state that together they
can challenge the traditional approach to clothing. Astrid Olsson and Lee
Cotter is inspired by the idea of using old and new and letting craftsmanship
take pride of place. The companys mens wear can be defined as traditional
uniform fashion with jackets and shirts, even though more casual, while the
womens wear is more androgynous, with elements of traditional male garments
that have deconstructed and reshaped. The collections combine minimalism,
deconstruction and draping, where both basic garments and key pieces have
dominant, exhibitionist, voluminous shapes. In parallel with the main line,
they produce By the No, a couture line that is sewn by hand, where all garments
are made to order. By the No is a compromise between commerce and art.

                                  

Helena Hörstedt’s garments represent a fashion where the pieces can be seen as art objects rather than clothes. It is a process with a focus on sewing and creativity that is her inspiration. Most garments she makes in black, which she believes represent a classically elegant style. Helena Hörstedt does not work with sketchbook; she works directly on the dummy. Garment bases are made of cotton, several of her garments also contains metal rails and metal spikes.The dresses come from the collection: The Black Whole SS 2008 consisting of nine creations, all in black with a variety of details, textures and folds. The well sewed, artistically daring, garments seem personal, innovative and challenging. The collection is in many ways typical of its time in its ambition to focus on design and quality craftsmanship, something that greatly influenced 2000s fashion debate.