Twenty-two students brought their work from Borås, Sweden (formerly a textile hub) to Copenhagen to present to an international audience during fashion week here. Most on theme as regard to the location was the work of Tuula Wallace, who applied techniques from Danish furniture making to fashion design to stunning effect. Africa was the geographical reference for the collections of Maya Naomi and Charity Egbudiwe. Naomi, from Zambia, aimed to bring traditional ways of making and materials “into the fashion space,” as she wrote; while Egbudiwe combined Nigerian wrapping with Victorian references to create dramatic silhouettes.
Elias Evertsson and Lara Ströbe leaned into this summer of sport with collections that referenced running. Vivian Grum’s focus was on hiking, a popular pastime in the Nordics where so much time is spent in nature. Sweden is also home to many tech start-ups, and Ebba Carlson Persson used LED lights in her designs.
With her military-inspired lineup, Iris Phillips pursued a harder edge as did former Dilara Findikoglu intern, Cajsa Torstensson, whose “nail-spiked” clothes had sonic as well as tactile properties. Softer to the eye, and the hand, was Sally Bjerre Gaarde’s take on a 1925 Chanel suit, made of a “non-woven tweed lace.” Though her research was centered on Coco, the airiness of the textile Bjerre Gaarde created felt rather Matthieu Blazy-like. “I work quite observantly and treat designing as research; that of course becomes personal through my hands and my perspectives and the times we live in,” she wrote.
Given the upcoming “Doll Dressing” exhibition at the Museum at FIT, Amber de Goede’s playful paper dolls stood out for being topical and beautifully executed.
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