“ LINIE celebrates the sophistication of simplicity through a disciplined design process. By minimizing unnecessary cuts and seams with a one-pattern-piece theory, LINIE’s detail-oriented tailoring allows the fabric and body to express their purest forms. - LINIE brings body, style and garment into balance “; is how designer Maria Hedmark describes her design and is also exacly how I’d like to introduce you to the brand Linie.  

DC: Being Swedish, has that changed your view on your own fashion line since you’ve been in New York? 

MH: Being in New York has given me the guts to start my own fashion line. I don’t think I would have started my own line as early in life as I did if I would still be in Sweden. I’m not sure if that is about “The law of Jante” or that life is very comfortable in Sweden. Moving to New York was a big step for my inner growth, and being here and in this business put me in to a lot of stress. I realized I could handle that, and not just handle but I was actually also good at it. By having my own line I’ve been able to evolve as a person and in my skills.

DC: Starting off with menswear, do you feel like moving forward to creating womenswear has helped your creative process?

MH: For me starting off with menswear has definitely helped me to acknowledge the cut and importance of a well-fitted garment, as well as the substance of a great fabric and drape. I took all these factors in to consideration when moving forward with womenswear. Many womenswear labels today are about adding seaming, trims and ornaments to a garment, but that has never been my aesthetic. Although I appreciate the straight forward with menswear I think there is a bigger span of clothing in womenswear and what kind of fabric you can use is almost unlimited. If I would use similar fabrications and cuts in menswear it would most likely look like costumes or an art project. 

DC: You are known for your clean cut, simple yet edgy designs and tailoring. Do you think your style of tailoring/designing will ever change in the future fashion years to come? 

MH: I have been very strict with my rules of how to make a garment. In the end I want as few seams as possible and ideally as few pattern pieces doable. For example, I have only added a cut if it’s necessary for the fit or that it creates unnecessary waste of the fabric. Adding another fabric to the garment is only “legal” if there has to be a cut within the shape of the garment. But in the end it’s actually about making a beautiful piece. So in the future I will most likely stretch those rules, that’s just part of the evolution. 

DC: What was your reason/inspiration for calling your fashion line “LINIE”? 

MH: First of all the Swedish word for “line” is “linje” pronounced [ˈliːni̯ə]. LINIE is just a graphical nicer spelling.

I have always believed that all human beings have their own kind of language with how they write, draw and create things. This has been created through life and your experiences. So having your own fashion line is not just of how your clothes look, you have to go to the very fundamental beginning of your process – the line that you draw on a paper for a sketch. You are the only one who can make that line. Going to the next step with draping and patternmaking, you put in your own handwork and language in to that piece. How you create a shape and how you handle the cutting of a fabric and sewing is all a very unique process. So the final line up of the collection and your aesthetic is all the result of how you created that early first drawn line.