• photography by SANDRA MYHRBERG
    stylist MEGHAN SCOTT
    hair & make up MICHAELA MYHRBERG
    model AMANDA A / Mikas

    An interview with Arielle de Pinto

    Written by Jenny Lacis by Jenny Lacis

    By using new material and old techniques, Arielle de Pinto is making unique jewelry. She has found a way to treat metal as a thread and crochets pieces such as earrings, necklaces and shoes. Her inducement is to test the behavior of the technique.

    JL: Hi Arielle! Can you tell us about the idea and concept of your jewelry?

    AP: Well, I’ve been devoted to develop classic shapes through innovating a technique of crocheting chain. The result is quite unique; I treat the metal as if it were thread and it becomes tactile and tractable. It’s a new fabric, but made very simply from materials like fine chain that have existed since Roman civilization. Crochet belongs to no one, it is part of the common knowledge of many cultures globally, it is not even known who started it. Most people have access to these materials and knowledge. My mission has been about developing a new language from something simple and portable by using different stitches, tensions and blending techniques; creating new patterns that test the behavior of this technique. These shapes treatments are my own and the body of work reflects that.

    JL: Okay, so what kind of jewelry are you making?

    AP: I work predominantly in 925 Italian sterling silver and with different gold plating’s to ensure an open color palette. Recently I have included rose gold, but my classic collection is yellow gold, darkened silver and other gold colours, as well as a palladium plated ionic treatment that is like an oil spill rainbow affect. I also do have a line of stainless steel, which is a bit more affordable and allows me to work with even wilder colors, but they are more matte.

    The jewelry can appeal to anyone. I can compare it to a pair of jeans, in that it can make you look great, it ends up conforming to your body and becomes a staple. Eventually the threads work as an attestation of loyalty. Somebody worked very hard to find the pattern of your favorite pair of jeans, and that is what I do, but in silver.

    I have a team of girls in Montreal who I have trained, and we make all the jewelry by hand.  At the end of the production I have a metal worker attaching a tiny signature tag onto the last thread, which has my logo on it. It’s very subtle branding. Not until after my sixth year of making jewelry did I put a logo on anything that was over three millimeters. Then it was tacky, now I think it’s finally chic.

    JL: Where do you find inspiration?

    AP: Everywhere, I travel a lot and I am always going through vintage stores, and textures will come out at me and I will figure out how to re-interpret them. I am always looking at how things are made, the patterns behind them. When you start to pay attention to it, you realize how little is actually done by machines, and how all materials we come into contact with, at some point somebody had to tame and develop it.

    I also become very attached to color. With lipstick, for example, if I fall in love with one color, you will never get me to accept a substitute. That is an elemental tendency, but still a reaction having grown up in a capitalist world. We’re still as animalistic as ever.

    Usually, when I am designing a collection I look at motifs that have been part of how we’ve been dressing ourselves for ages. For example, I have re-interpreted a pearl necklace probably three times, but no one would ever know. For AW14 I just finally used real pearls.  In my last collection I interpreted the pelt of a tiger. Because the technique itself is new, I have the freedom of drawing on tradition without being repetitive.

    JL: Cool! How long does it take to make a necklace or a ring?

    AP: This I cannot say. 

    JL: When did you start the brand?

    AP: In 2006 I got my first magazine feature, and was making one kind of piece. By September 2007 I launched my first collection.

    JL: And how would you say that your brand has developed since the start?

    AP: In many ways. I have developed all the hardware to support the technique. I have access to colors, more diverse materials and distribution all over the world. Now, I have a team of skilled workers and we all have different strengths, thank God.

    JL: What’s new this season?

    AP: Well, I am working with pearls this season and we’ve created a kind of “pearl garden” motif. The board game chains are also a completely new technique. I have always loved checkerboards, loving anything flashy, but I can never keep anything brand new. I made a sort of quadrant piece as well, keeping this season more crisp than any in the past. There is always a need to evolve, especially when you are as specialized as this company.

    tunic JOSEFIN STRID
    shoes MONKI
    tights WOLFORD
    dress NOIR & BLANC
    tights WOLFORD
    top DIESEL BLACK GOLD
    top & shorts CARIN WESTER

    dress IDA SJÖSTEDT 

    top worn over dress NOOID

  • photography by ANNA GRANBERG

    20 Minutes with Minimarket: an interview with Sofie Elvestedt

    Written by Mari Florer

    Minimarket wants to design clothes that build confidence. They jokingly refer to an expression they call “dignified pyjamas”.

    The designers want people to feel free and comfortable, whether they’re at a party or at work.

    “Many fashion garments have a tendency to make you feel inadequate”, Sofie says after telling me she only has twenty minutes to spare.

    Minimarket converted to a fashion brand 2006. The name came from their clothing store.

    SE: A friend and I had a boutique with the same name, in SoFo, in Stockholm. We were selling clothes created for our shop by young Swedish and Danish newly graduated designers.

    Her sisters and current colleges Pernilla and Jennifer did their internship at Minimarket. Soon, all sisters started to design easy-to-wear clothes as a complement to the young designers’ more advanced garments.

    SE: We sold really well.

    One day Weekday called. They were interested in selling our clothes. When we got their first order we closed the store.

    At first the three sisters designed all together, but today they are splitting up the work to be more effective.

    SE: But we are all involved in all different parts. We discuss a lot.

    Sofie is the older sister and the head of the sales part and her design approach is very business focused.

    SE: I have a bigger say over certain garments we call sell pieces. These are more basic, and must be found in order to withdraw money. I like safeguards.

    Pernilla Elvestedt takes care of the material sourcing and production, and is also contributing extra to shoes and accessories.

    The third sister Jennifer Elvestedt is the titled designer, accompanied by Abril Vergara, junior designer.

    We look at the AW14 collection hanging on rails. There are prints and patterns inspired by the moon and the space. Colors like blue, green and orange are frequently used. The shoes are standing on white boxes in the middle of the room.

    Some products stand out. A pair of cow patterned shoes, a sweater with a wolf howling in front of the full moon and a black and green tartan woollen cap.

    MB: Is it possible to print on any material?

    SE: It is almost possible. But some cannot be printed on since it depends on the structure of the fabric.

    MB: Are you visiting the factories or producers to see that everything is in order?

    SE: We have good control of the production and we visit our factories on regular basis. There is just one of the producers with which we are not very happy, they have failed with logistics and delivery dates for 2 seasons in a row, and unfortunately we have had to replace them for our next season.

    MB: How can you as a designer take responsibility for the environment?

    SE: It’s hard. All products drain the resources on earth. We can choose the right fabrics. Our most common fabric Cupro is free from toxins. We have tried new coloring techniques for example we’ve made scarves which are coloured with fruit and spices.

    MB: So, what does this summer’s outfit look like?

    SE: Oh, it’s hard to pick one outfit. I think a straight and flowy silhouette with many layers. We like to mix different lengths, for example we often combine thin pants with a dress on top, and then a shorter jacket on top of that. And you need a hat of course.

    We sell a lot of hats. Sometimes I wonder who it is that buys all these hats, as I don’t see them so often in the streets.

    Minimarket is not following trends. They do what they feel like.

    SE: We have a lot of colors and patterns every year and we hope our customers use them many years. It´s better to buy fewer items with good quality.

    It’s a little chaotic in the office and those who work may sit where there is space. A young woman is sitting on the floor and cutting out a pattern. Sofie helps an assistant to move her computer to an empty seat.

    Minimarket moved into this place in September 2013 and are now renovating. They don’t allow us to take pictures inside.

    MB: How many are employed here?

    SE: Only five. A lot of people think that we mean that the design department is only five people, but it is actually the whole company.

    MB: Are you sisters often arguing?

    SE: It’s good to clear the air sometimes. Everyone needs to do that periodically. It helps you get back on the track again. I love working with my sisters and I’m very proud of what we have accomplished.

    Pernilla asks Sofie if she is finished with the interview.

    SE: Yes, I am.

     
  •  
    photography by NICOLAS FØLSGAARD

    An interview with Gitte Jonsdatter

    Written by Tayfun Yilmaz by Michaela Widergren

    Fashion with Collaboration - MUUSE

    It is a wonderful September day in Copenhagen, the kind where the drone of the metro construction at Nørreport Station is overpowered by a crisp, fall fluorescence. And somewhere, amidst the glow, is my destination. I walk further into the city centre, and there on a quiet side street, I find it: a huge door. The door opens onto an inner courtyard, where instead of flowers all I see are smiling faces. This is what I have been looking for—the place where creativity meets business; the place where design visionaries are born. Welcome to MUUSE.

    MUUSE Co-founder Gitte Jonsdatter, all blond hair and warm smiles, comes to greet me. She introduces me to the staff and then pulls out a few MUUSE samples to show me. And in a span of a few moments, I get the impression that this chic, yet cozy workplace is a hotbed of talent, innovation and ideas.

    An American with Scandinavian parents, Jonsdatter’s resume weighs heavily in work for research companies.

    GJ: I have a design innovation background. In America, I worked as a consultant / researcher. My work focused on understanding the cultures, habits and ways of living in different parts of the world. While working with a Danish startup as a consultant, I moved to Denmark. Here, I found my future business partner David Dencker. Together, we launched MUUSE.

    MUUSE is a company that attracts talented fashion designers and tastemakers alike, and where collaborations are essential to its DNA. It develops and produces quality collections in collaboration with design talents from all around the world, which are sold both online and through partnerships with independent retailers. Jonsdatter says that the foundation of MUUSE finds its roots in the future of fashion, in creating designer collections in small, curated editions that are made to last.

    WE ARE THE FACILITATORS

    TY: What is the history behind MUUSE?

    GJ: First of all, we wanted to make a difference. During my years working as a researcher, I experienced a lack of communication between customers, companies and creators. I wanted to work on resolving this problem. There are so many inspired and well-educated fashion designers graduating from fashion schools, but most are unable to fulfill their dream of designing their own collections. Creating a piece of clothing doesn’t end by designing it, there is a much larger, often unseen, process that comes with it. If a design is to be mass-produced, it has to be washable, it has to be wearable, it has to be introduced to consumers, and much more besides. It is difficult for a young designer to do all of this alone. So with MUUSE, we wanted to create a space for new talent—a place where designers can express their vision and we take the responsibility for the rest of the work. You can also see that people are becoming far more interested in small collections from boutiques than those from larger, mass-produced labels. The curated collections, like those we create, give people unique, quality designs they will treasure for years to come.

    Jonsdatter says that today, launching a brand means that the designers need to have design sensibility—the ability to hone all their knowledge to support the product. Designers must also have a good understanding of production, public relations, and marketing. MUUSE handles production, sales, PR and marketing for our designers so they can focus on their design. In the end, it is the designer’s name in collaboration with MUUSE that is attached onto the clothes of his or her creation. We work as facilitators for the designers and for consumers who not only want to discover new designers, but unique designs.

    DESIGNERS ALWAYS COMES FIRST

    TY: What is MUUSE’s motto?

    GJ: Our motto has always been about prioritizing our designers. They are the most important part of our brand. Good design makes everything work better. MUUSE gives them the opportunity to focus on their designs and create something they will be proud of.

    As it stands, MUUSE is the only brand that gathers designers and consumers in such an ingenious way.

    GJ: It is true that we don’t have any competitors, because there isn’t any other brand that works as collaboratively as we do. Our way of doing business differentiates us from the rest of the fashion sector, MUUSE is a brand that works exclusively in close designer collaborations.

    TY: How do you get in touch with the designers?

    GJ: We contact fashion schools from all around the world. Besides that, we have the MUUSE x VOGUE Talents Award, which is a fashion design competition in collaboration with Vogue Italia. Last year, a Swedish fashion designer, Lina Michal won the competition, and we have already begun working with Lina to create a MUUSE Editions capsule collection for 2015. Competitions are one way in which we scout young, talented and inspired designers.

    Although MUUSE is still emerging in some markets, the brand is known by many in Scandinavia and the United States.

    GJ: There are many interested people from the fashion sector who want to wear pieces that are specially made and cannot be found in ordinary shops.
    Jonsdatter says that many people discover MUUSE through the self-promotion of its designers. But the MUUSE x VOGUE Talents Award has also boosted recognition, and MUUSE often partners with international and Danish media too.

    GJ: Our brand now appears on the trend pages of many fashion magazines, which such positive proof of how we are growing and thriving.
    MUUSE both operates their own online shop and sells their styles in carefully selected independent boutiques. Their online shop enables consumers to meet the MUUSE designers from every corner of the world. But for some, there are worries about the digital shopping experience and feel it is still safer to shop the traditional way.

    TY: How do people trust your service?

    GJ: With the MUUSE shop the fear of regret from shopping on the Internet is redundant. We take care to ensure detailed sizing information and instructions are made directly available on our online shopping page. If something happens or there are additional questions, our customer care team is also there to help.

    TY: What is your aim for the future? Where do you see MUUSE in the future?

    GJ: We hope that MUUSE will continue to grow and be very successful in the future. Nowadays, people have the tendency to prefer clothes that give them a feeling of uniqueness, and large brands cannot satisfy this desire, but this is what we do. Our designers are carefully chosen and every item has it’s own identity.The enthusiasm for buying special products is evident, and here in Scandinavia, the movement is already on its way!

    MUUSE offers superior service to customers from all over the world with its selection of design talents and original creations. The gateway to MUUSE: www.muuse.com

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