One of a kind – Valdnad
This creative spirit will drag you in her world of visions and new inspirations between art and fashion, from the conceptual to the artistic innovation. “My training comes from two areas, fashion and art, so all my work moves across borders. Fashion and the body are the central axes of my project but sometimes this work takes the form of sculptures, embroidered paintings, drawings or experimental films. For me it is very difficult to separate the fashion collections that have been presented in runways or lookbooks from the pieces made for my videos. My brand Våldnad started 9 years ago, right after I finished my bachelor in fashion design. Since then, I have made 8 fashion collections, approximately one per year. I think the traditional fashion calendar with two collections a year, now four, does not make much sense anymore. My approach to fashion has nothing to do with industry, craftsmanship has a very important weight in my collections so I can not and I do not want to enter the maelstrom of mass productions. I prefer to make small series and release them little by little, in an organic way. Sometimes the period between one and the other is long and other times it is shorter, everything depends on the complexity of the garments and objects. At the same time I have developed works that have been exhibited in art exhibitions and video art festivals around Europe.”
What’s the concept of your latest collection?
My last project it is a collection of objects for home. A series of sculptures made of wood that also can be used as boxes and vases, embroideries mounted on a frame, drawings and tapestries. All those pieces are one of a kind and made by hand. They are halfway between art and design and inspired by my own home. In addition to this, right now I am finishing a collection of artistic jewelry, small sculptures that will be accompanied by an experimental fashion film. When I created something (a garment, a brooch, a drawing or a short film) I tend to tell a story and the starting point for this collection is Jeanne Moreau singing Each man kills the thing he loves in R. W. Fassbinder’s film Querelle. It was Oscar Wilde the one who said this through his verses and holds a sad truth about human relationships. When you think of jewels you think of gifts, specially between lovers. These pieces are dark and sweet at the same time, with pampered and broken hearts.But if we talk about my last fashion collection,that would be The Garden of Good and Evil, a work in progress that started about 3 years ago when I made the first part of this collection. It is inspired by nostalgia and adolescence. I am very interesting about our relationship with our own bodies and teenagers have to face a lot of changes that escape their control. It is a time when a person has to learn the differences between what’s good and what’s bad, innocence and ignorance are no longer allowed. The first garments are made in light cotton fabrics with details from childhood like bows and white on white embroideries. The second part of the collections, which is accompanied by a fashion film entitled Morphê it is less naive. Darkness has reached clothes and fabrics are heavier, also brighter like grey wool and ultramarine blue lurex. Magic and mystery are present in both the story of the film and the clothes. The last pieces are more sophisticated and closer to art than design. Human anatomy and scientific illustrations are embroidered on dresses, jackets and jumpsuits.
How would you define your style?
The first thing I do before choosing a fabric is touching it. I have a predilection for soft and fluid fabrics, and for the imperfection and the attitude of handmade items. Everything has a story and I truly believe this life has to be shown on garments and accessories. On the other hand I like to play with notions like taste, mixing colors, textures and prints to infuse bits of opulence. In one hand it borrows characteristics from Scandinavian or Japanese style, in the other, it has the eccentricity of dandies.
How does the place you live in affect your design?
I was born in a small mountain village and I have grown up spending a lot of time in the forests collecting flowers and minerals and observing animals. This origin is very important in my work since nature is always present in one way or another. My patterns are full of soft and organic shapes, the textures are inspired by minerals and the imperfections of the materials are not hidden but highlighted. Also birds, butterflies and plants are a constant in embroideries and prints.
What’s the future of fashion according to you?
Fast fashion system it is not sustainable and an important group of consumers are changing their habits and priorities. Craftsmanship can be the solution to some problems of the fashion industry like contamination, waste or unethical production. We should buy less but better and regain emotional connection with the clothes we wear.
What’s your next project?
In one hand I’m doing my doctoral thesis, a research that aims to redefine fashion and deepen the relationship between attire and the moving image. These two disciplines have been inseparable since the birth of the cinema and now, with fashion films, this relationship has become more firmly established. I think this association can be very useful to find out a possible path for the fashion of the future. On the other hand I am starting a new collection that accompanies this research, a rewriting of the history of fashion made through real clothes not just a theoretical analysis. Beyond these research projects I am initiating a new collection of unique garments illustrated by hand and limited editions of silk screen prints.
