Words Sophie Axon
From Ganni, Acne Studios and Tôteme, Scandinavia is fast becoming a podium for atelier delights. Many of these Nordic labels roll off of our tongues and seemingly for good reason. It’s a fashion that extends beyond the runway, editorial and bookshelf; it has enveloped us all.
When we speak of Scandinavian style, it’s evident that there’s something worth emulating; the nonchalant layering and minimalist silhouettes are “uncomplicated and easy to wear”, as Christian Exsteen, ex-Creative Director of By Malene Birger, once told VOGUE. While this remains true, the past few years have also seen a slight redirection: an increase in poignant colour and texture combinations, a healthy touch of satirism and alternative methods of production. Some designers have achieved a more sustainable production by slowing down and operating on a made-to-order basis. Their sustainable practices also include using waste products such as old coffee grounds to create natural, chemical-free dyes or opting for recycled deadstock fabrics.
When events such as Magasin du Nord Fashion Prize and Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPHFW) arrive in the capital, we are treated to an abundant presentation of ready-to-wear newness and once again we experience the rush of scandimania. The new designs we see might be presented as seasonal, but since Cecilie Thorsmark’s appointment as CEO of CPHFW, all participating designers must now adhere to strict sustainability requirements. Although these rules will fully come into place next year, it represents a change in the industry — showing that creativity can and will coexist with responsibility. This is something to be celebrated; where there is newness, there is often substance and innovation. On that note, here are 5 Scandinavian brands to watch in 2022.
A. Rogue Hove
A. Roege Hove is an eponymous brand specialising in conceptual knitwear for women. Moulding to the natural shape of the body, each garment is constructed using an array of fine, shadow-like thread. The delicacy and semi-transparency of the knitwear resembles skin, breathing a sense of life to the garment. In doing so, A. Roege Hove celebrates the beauty of craftsmanship through her designs.
Founded by Amalie Røge Hove in 2019, the brand redefines traditional knitwear by experimenting with new textures and shapes; seemingly finding an equilibrium between the simple and the extravagant.
Each piece is produced in Amalie’s home country of Denmark, or Ireland and Italy to ensure consistency in quality and ethics. Amalie produces every sample piece on a domestic knitting machine in Copenhagen, and then, when the designs are brought to production, the process is always engineered to eradicate (or at the very least minimise) waste. A. Roege Hove was crowned the winner of the Magasin du Nord Fashion Prize in 2021, under the mentorship of Silas Adler, Creative Director of Soulland.
(di)vision
(di)vision was created through the dictum “two become one”. By marrying together deadstock materials to create unified garments, (di)vision nods not only to sustainability but the relationship between history, nostalgia and the lives behind our clothes. Founded by siblings Nanna and Simon Wick in 2018, each piece is designed to be fluid, hybridising traditional silhouettes and gendered ideals of dressing. By taking old fabrics and creating something new, there’s a deliberate conceptual, multifunctional DIY-aesthetic to the clothes
(di)vision was handpicked as one of four finalists in 2021’s Magasin du Nord Fashion Prize, under the mentorship of GANNI’s Nicolaj Reffstrup.
Jade Cropper
Jade Cropper is a Stockholm-based eponymous label that challenges the traditional function and purpose of women’s clothes. Through abstract detailing, unconventional linearity, and by blending couture with the rhythm of street style, Jade Cropper designs with the intention to liberate women. Each style merges the conventional with the unconventional. In doing so, Jade Cropper breathes positive connotation into the concept of imperfection and deconstruction, through a celebration of design.
Since the establishment of the brand in 2020, Jade Cropper has been on a mission to steer away from fast fashion, ensuring her designs are inclusive and sustainable by using upcycled and recycled fabrics. After being awarded the inaugural Talent Slot by the CPHFW show committee, Jade Cropper showcased her AW22 collection in February and received an abundance of glowing reports.
Kerne.milk
Kerne.milk’s clothes are made to be sipped and soaked-up through the natural shapes of the body. Based in Copenhagen, Kerne.milk creates womenswear garments that nod to both vintage and the future. As a brand they are passionately dedicated to contributing to a more sustainable future, operating on an upcycling basis by sourcing deadstock and repurposing material.
Founded in 2019, Creative directors, Marie Mark and Katrina Wittig, draw inspiration from their past experiences as dancers. In doing so, Kerne.milk’s clothes play on the concept of eccentric movement, the performative nature of clothing and the transformative power of dressing.
Marimekko
Marimekko was founded in Finland back in 1951 and steadily grew as a house-hold name in the fashion industry. But it wasn’t until 2020 that the younger generation started to take notice, after Rebekka Bay (previous Creative Director of COS) was appointed as Creative Director.
Each garment is infused with a youthful energy not only through the upcycling of old fabrics but through the continuous use of archived Marimekko prints. Today in 2022, Marimekko showcases a genuine desire to encourage creative expression and functionality 0 through atmospheric colourways, printed fabrics, and modern silhouettes.
By reimagining past designs and digging into their vast archive of abstract prints, Marimekko has become a brand that not only dresses the consumer, but a brand that celebrates the non-linearity of fashion; historically and today.