Nordic Fashion Now: Knitwear and Print
A new generation of fashion designers based in the Nordic region are transforming the craft of fashion. They are playful, bold and bring new perspectives on tradition, history, and culture. Nordic Fashion Now: Knitwear and Print features emerging Nordic fashion designers who create radical and experimental knitwear and print.
In collaboration with the Röhsska Museum and ALPHA, the exhibition is curated by Ane Lynge-Jorlén.
The exhibition features twelve installations, displayed as creative universes that span garments, research, process, inspiration, art works, portfolios and films. Through both hand and machine, the designers integrate upcycling, recycling and waste materials into their work, and the knitted shapes and new print techniques on display are developed in response to craft traditions and current societal issues, including climate change, war and inequality.
Participating designers in the exhibition include Linda Aasaru, Serena Coelho, Monika Colja, Sasha Heinsaar, Rintaro Iino, Tuuli-Tytti Koivula, Maibritt Marjunardóttir, Mikaela Mårtensson, Matilda Sundkler, Juha Vehmaanperä, and Boram Yoo, as well as Elina Heilanen, Aleksandra Hellberg, Camilla Naukkarinen and Noora Vihervirta, who present a joint project.
Textile printing is fabric decoration through application of colour and designs in various compositions and patterns. Printed textiles have a rich regional and ethnic history that is linked to craftmanship, identity, colonialisation and globalisation.
The colours and patterns used in printing have gone through great developments, from simple wood blocks and wax-resistant dye to multi-colour and 3D printing. The birth of 3D printing has opened new territories for creating shapes that extend the idea of printing as mere decoration.
A new generation of Nordic designers applies a wide range of techniques that combine hand-painting, screen printing, photographic and 3D printing. Emerging designers are integrating prints and printing as part of the overall narrative of the design. Storytelling, current themes, including personal as well as political messages are embedded in the prints to support the designer’s collection concept.
Knitwear
Knitting is the process of using needles to create a fabric made of a series of interconnected loops. Knitwear can be created through hand-knitting or by using a knitting machine, either suitable for domestic use or one of the more advanced industrial models.
Historically, knitwear has often been associated with domestic work, and it was central to mending and knitting for necessity during the world wars. Technology has now turned the labour-intensive craft of hand-knitting into a smooth process where knitwear can be made almost without human hands.
As part of sustainable awareness and the ‘slow movement’, traditional hand-knitting and use of natural fibres from the Nordic countries are now being re-visited from new perspectives. Knitwear has become part of activism and feminist- and neo-craft movements, with iconic symbols and objects. Now, designers combine tradition and ideas of the future in work that straddles fashion and art.
All images by Kristin Lidell