The unexpected designers from the Swedish School of Textiles. Thanks to this batch of future talents, Stockholm may be home to the next great absurdist designs.
School shows are always a highly anticipated venue. While established brands and designers always have to have the customer in mind when making their collections, students have the possibility to let their creativity flow freely without considering commerciality at all. The result is sometimes utterly weird, usually at least a little bit strange, but always very inspiring. The purpose of the graduate shows are to present new ideas and possibilities. When commercial designer brands make their collections, they’re made for this world. It’s clothes that you might or might not want to wear, but that you definitely could wear. Fashion students have the opportunity to create their own fantasy worlds. You might not want to inhabit all of them but it makes you think of the possibilities of an at least slightly different world, or this world in a totally different shape and color.
At the Swedish School of Textiles fashion is understood in its broadest sense, and the collections from the bachelor and master students that showed on September 1, looks at fashion from many different angles. The students came up with collections that ranged from beautiful color messes and mashes to more laid back attires. The main topic of the show were textiles and their various application. The show however, intended to express their visionary view of the fashion and how it can be interpreted with regard to the space, gender or culture.
The bright colors, over-sized shapes and conceptual garments came in great variety, we loved them all but the ones that stood out more were Louise Linderoth, who presented perhaps the most inspiring lineup. This designer has offer an innovative and daring attitude that permeates the aesthetics of new design, a norm-challenging mindset. Not only does she challenge the traditional denim construction, but she designs for wheelchair users.
On the other hand, Nathali Elfström, concerned with sustainability, as many of the students are, turned upcycled materials into voluminous concoctions with an athletic twist, like a teal and white parka. To more intricate pattern see Anna Tåkvist and Caroline Ingeholm, the two students who most obviously indulged in fantasy with everyday object and cloud-like pieces. Wearability aspect? Well, we leave that for those it’s designed for. These are but a few of the talented young designers, see the whole show below and get inspired to create your own world.