• photography by LISA EKELUND

    Bedazzled

    Written by Chelsea Porter

    Less is a Bore

    Bedazzled a Swedish jewelry brand designed by Jennie Rhönnstad. With a recent collection featured in Stockholm Design Week, Rhönnstads pieces have us drooling. This Swedish born creative sells in a number of boutiques in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Umeå and New York City.

    What inspired you to start making jewelry? 

    I've always loved creating thing with my hands. I first started by making necklaces out of buttons, that is when a friend of mine recommened me to attend Nyckelviksskolan, an Art School based in Stockholm. That's where I was educated in metalcraft, and after that I did an Economy Degree at Södertörns University in Stockholm. My collections really pushed forward when I was a part of the Swedish Fashion Talents in 2012, that's when I joined my first PR Agency and really perfected my craft.  

    How would you describe your jewelry?

    'Less is a bore', more is usually big. My pieces appear big, rough, and even have a glimpse of humour. The names always plays a large role, I use word play often, like taking something real and giving it a spin. I find it interesting to see how far I can go with my word play. My own style is basic and I tend to wear one colour head-to-toe, usually white or black, so one sigture piece can really make an outfit. 

    What is your inspiration and what do you focus on?

    I make things I want to see in real life. I love the thought of a final process, holding and seeing my vision, being able to take an idea or something tangeble from one element and transform it to another. I do love Elsa Schiaparellis designs however, I'm more influenced by words. I always read the titles of paintings in galleries, sometimes I think people buy art because of the name or title. My collection isn't audience focused, my buyers can be 20-70 years old. My collection is based more on a making a statement in an outfit. I want my pieces to remain timeless. 

    Do you have a signature piece?

    Meltdown and mini meltdown, crafted using white rocks with grey inside. Also, the collaboration with straight design 'pile of shit' which was featured at Design Week

    Where inspired the brand name, bedazzled? 

    From back when I use to make necklaces out of buttons, exchanging and adding materials to craft something new, I use to say I “bedazzled” it. Now, I see it as, “My collection can bedazzle an outfit”. I wanted to make a corny term into a classier catch phrase. 

    Where do you resource your materials?

    From different places, I try to work with recycled brass from from a junkyard in Nacka. My stones are usually from stone shops and are all energy stones. My favourite colour schemes right now seem to be white, black, clear, yellow, and maybe pink. 

    What are your future goals?

    I have my next collection in mind and aim to create two collections a year. One in Febuary and the other in August. 

  • The COS x Studio Swine installation

    Video by Fashion Tales

    COS ANNOUNCES 6TH YEAR AT SALONE DEL MOBILE WITH MULTI-SENSORY INSTALLATION BY DESIGN DUO STUDIO SWINE

    Milan, 3rd February, 2017

    For this year’s edition of Milan Design Week, COS will partner with London-based Studio Swine, an artistic collaboration between Japanese Architect Azusa Murakami and British Artist Alexander Groves.

    Studio Swine will create an ephemeral installation centred around a focal sculpture emitting mist-filled blossoms at Cinema Arti, a decommissioned cinema built in the 1930s by Italian architect Mario Cereghini. The installation will draw upon the natural and the industrial, while making minimal use of resources to create an immersive multi-sensory experience.

    “2016 was a year full of changes and crisis and so we wanted to create an installation that could offer a moment of contemplation. The inspiration for the installation was nature and the changing of the seasons. For us, this idea has such universal beauty. We aim to create a democratic experience which brings people together” said Studio Swine.

    Karin Gustafsson, Creative Director of COS said, “We are delighted to be partnering with Alex and Azusa of Studio Swine. Our many common values - a focus on timelessness over trend, functionality with beauty and the exploration of materials - means that working together is a very natural fit. I’m really looking forward to seeing the concept come to life in Milan”.

    The COS x Studio Swine installation will be open from the 4th – 9th April 2017 at Cinema Arti, Via Pietro Mascagni, 8, 20122 Milan

  • COS

    Written by Fashion Tales

    COS CELEBRATES ITS 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY IN 2017

    Throughout the last decade COS has remained true to its philosophy; to offer a high quality collection comprised of wardrobe staples as well as re-invented classics, in keeping with the brand ethos of modern, timeless, functional and tactile design. COS Managing Director Marie Honda commented, “We are proud of how the brand has grown over the last ten years. We are pleased and humbled that our customers have continued to appreciate our approach and engage with our collections, stores and collaborative projects with the art and design world.” 

    To celebrate the brand’s anniversary COS will create a 10 piece capsule collection with garments for women, men and children. Each garment’s pattern is created like a jigsaw with the full width of the fabric used, one shape deciding another, limiting any excess. Japanese influences are apparent in the square-cut proportions of a men’s top and a women’s coat featuring kimono-style sleeves. Childrenswear features playful appliqué on a dress and shirt. The collection will be made with light fabrications of crisp cotton and technical polyester in a pared-back palette of sand and white. 

    COS Creative Director Karin Gustafsson said of the collection, “The design team took the opportunity to play and experiment in the pattern-cutting process, re-imagining the methods behind the design. The patterncutters and designers worked in parallel, referencing historical techniques that maximised the use of materials. As we look to the future we will continue to focus on the efficient use of fabrics and forward-thinking techniques.”

    On sale from the 24th March 2017, the collection will be available to buy worldwide in store and on cosstores.com

  • Alexander Wessely - Corpus

    Written by Fashion Tales

    A new generation of postdigital artists and creatives are becoming prominent in the cultural world. The influential curator Hans Ulrich Obrist created the initiative concept “89Plus” that focus on the generation that are born in 1989 or thereafter and therefore have never known a world without the internet or digital tools. They move freely between disciplines and techniques and often present very tactile and physical works.

    Stockholm based photographer, director and artist Alexander Wessely (b. 1989) fits into this category. His career has quickly established him in the international music and fashion industry, portraying names like Rihanna and Drake or shooting for Vogue Italia. His style is an digitally enhanced, raw black and white aesthetic that fits the contemporary world. His first show took place at a secret location and sold out within the first hour.

    For his second show “Corpus” he has taken the photograph one step further. With Greek roots, Wessely has looked back at the classical Greek sculpture for inspiration. Bodies of humans and animals are photographed in a studio, then sculptured backwards in decay in digital postproduction making them appear as antique remains. The work is then printed in 1:1 scale on metal and mounted on classical marble and steel in order to create a new type of sculpture. Most apparent is this in Hippos (Horse) which weighs a solid 650 kg and measures 2.8 x 2m. Through this metamorphosis Wessely sets the tone of our postdigital world and makes us look at the process of a sculpture in new angles.

    The exhibition takes place in an old palace under renovation in central Stockholm, 3/2-4/2.

  • RODEBJER Q&A

    Written by Meghan Scott

    Photography by: Malin Hägglöv.

    Stockholm's fashion crowd was very excited to see the Rodebjer collection in real life after all these years. Sandra and I ducked backstage right after the show and asked the lovely Carin Rodebjer a few questions about her collection and being back in Stockholm.

    It's so great for Fashion Week in Stockholm that you had a show this season, how do you feel about being back in the arena?

    It is fun to be back. Stockholm has changed a lot since I showed here last time. There are a lot of familiar faces and also a lot of new ones, which is exciting.

    Your last collection was a closed show with a strict social media and media embargo. Are you going to try and keep this concept even though you've already being viewed and uploaded by many journalists and editors just now, do you have a plan to keep some sort of embargo going? Do you feel this is important?

    The foundation of the strategy remains, which is a strong focus on communication created for the end consumer when we launch the collection in stores. We did however realize that we had to make it easier for press and wholesale to do their job so now we have less restricted rules on social media coverage, pictures can be taken and published from the show. 

    Do you feel more inspired working in Sweden? Does the slower pace of life give you more connection to your collection?

    At this point Sweden is just the right place for me to be. We have opened a big new store, we have a lot of new amazing employees on board and we experience a lot of growth in Scandinavia, so it is inspiring to see and feel the flow. 

    Last collection was inspired by 'Judy Chicago', who was your inspiration this time?

    This time it was lots of women. It was about a multitude that form a strong unit. We were inspired by Hannah Wilke, Niki de Saint Phalle, Helen Chadwick, Marina Ambramovic among many.

    Do you or are you working on any concepts that reduce your carbon footprint?

    Out of that perspective I also suddenly felt that it is quite modern to stay at one place and not fly constantly over the Atlantic back and forth. For Rodebjer as a company sustainability has always been important. We choose sustainable options whenever we can and we are also developing a new strategy regarding sustainability that we hope to share with our customers soon.

    More backstage photos from the show here.

  • HUNKYDORY Q&A

    Written by Meghan Scott

    Photography by: Malin Hägglöv.

    Odalisque's Sandra Myrhberg and I had the chance to have a quick Q&A with the design duo behind Hunkydory, backstage at Stockholm Fashion Week. They were showing their first 'See Now, Buy Now' collection, the first fashion label to do this in Stockholm. 

    With major players like Moschino, Tom Ford and Tommy Hilfiger doing the 'see now buy now' concept with success, it is really cool that a Swedish brand is doing this also. What kind of approach are you going to use since this is an AW17 collection?

    We will be selling a limited selection of show pieces online directly after the fashion show. Instead of waiting half a year our customers will be able to immediately buy some of the extravagant pieces presented. This is a way for Hunkydory to adapt to the digital climate. We can no longer disregard the fact that costumers want to be part of the runway shows in a bigger extent.

    The industry has changed a lot, especially since the age of social media growing exponentially over the past 10 years, and you've been around for just over half of that. What sort of angle did you take when you first started seeing the fashion x social media rage happen?

    Hunkydory aim to be a digital and innovative brand that keeps up with the changing conditions of the industry. When e-commerce and social media boomed not all companies understood the potential and importance of the new tools. At Hunkydory we have always been open to the new and understand that a brand must evolve when the surrounding context does.

    There is so much to keep up with in the fashion world today, environmental awareness being a major issue for more and more consumers every day. Do you or are you working on any concepts that reduce your carbon footprint?

    We are constantly looking into this, and other parts of our processes that affect the environment. We are for example choosing to use a denim supplier that recycles and cleans their spill water.

    More backstage photos from the show here.

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