JOSEFIN STRID INTERVIEW

SWEDEN HAS PRODUCED SOME GREAT THINGS; IKEA, ABBA, MEATBALLS AND DALA HORSES. WHAT IT HASN’T BEEN SO RENOWNED FOR, HOWEVER, IS IT’S FASHION DESIGNERS. BUT WITH JOSEFIN STRID, THAT’S ABOUT TO CHANGE.

Strid caused something of a stir when she decided include skirts in one of her collections- for men, that is. And there’s more to come. “The real skirts won’t be revealed until in February. The collection that I showed during (the most recent) Stockholm Fashion Week is a feminine, flowery collection of menswear. The reactions vary a lot, but I think it’s exciting. I have this one at my PR agency now and I can barely wait until the spring when I’ll see it in magazines. I want people to react, to feel something. Not only wanting to just wear the black t-shirt with their favourite jeans.”

A designer of both mens- and womenswear, Strid says it’s not always a conscious decision to design for men or for women. “It depends on my source of inspiration. When I was inspired by flowers, I didn’t even think about womenswear, it would have been too obvious, that’s already done so many times. Sometimes I find it easier with menswear, since I don’t relate to how it is to wear it myself. I find myself a bit more innovative with menswear sometimes.  But I am very interested in the border between masculine and feminine and I like to explore that, working with menswear and womenswear in the same collection and style everything for everyone, without it being unisex.”

Strid has always favoured taking an unconventional approach to fashion. In the past she often opted for creating smaller-scale ‘projects’ in fashion,  rather than putting together entire collections . “I used to do that (the projects) more, but I do still do them. I always do a collection for each season now, you have to do that, and you have to be on time to be a part of the whole press thing with magazines and stylists. But I still do projects and freelance things when I feel like it. I want to be able to decide myself what to do and I want to enjoy my work. I like to collaborate if it tempts me.” Recently, such collaborations have included styling for MODS Magazine, a music film, a dress for Swerea, and tentative plans for a small capsule collection, which will be for sale in December.

Strid also produces custom designs outside of her collections. “It’s good for the economy to do freelance projects. But I only do them if I’ll enjoy it. It’s another challenge to work for someone, to give them what they want and not only what I want. I think it’s a good way to understand other people, to be able to collaborate and not be selfish. When I work for myself I often have a much longer process before I see the end result, much more experimentation, toiling and so on. I always want to know so much and explore the subject I work with, to learn something new. I could do that when freelancing, but I don’t think anyone would like to pay me to read several books, stroll in the nature and whatever else I start my process with,” she smiles.

The start of the process is inevitably drawing inspiration for designs. For her 2008 collection, this included Tim Burton’s films, and inspiration is something which always shows through in Strid’s imaginative collections. “Films are often inspiring, the AW11 collection is inspired by The Piano Teacher. Films and travelling are the most inspiring things for me, and sometimes music.” It’s clear that travel is key to Strid’s collections. “I travel a lot and what I see at my trips often make me want to create something. Nature is fascinating, and I like the break you get when you’re surrounded by nature. Last summer I strolled around a lot in the parks of London and in Kew Gardens. I simply watched the flowers and then I based a whole collection on that. This summer I was in the US, visiting national parks like Yellowstone, Zion and Grand Canyon. It was nice to hike, wear comfortable clothes and just be with my family there. The whole experience influenced me and maybe I’ll do something with all the photos I took.”

Shoulders are always a focal point in Strid’s collections. So why the fascination with an area which, excepting AW 09 and the 80s, so often gets overlooked? “I used to work with big shoulders, like the 80’s siloutte, but I’ve toned it down now. I think it’s based on my foundation as a tailor. I think it’s very important how the sleeve is attached to the garment, how much bearing it has and how it works with the body. You can do both subtle and extreme things with shoulders that make a big difference.”

Strid grew up in a small town called Ulricehamn, spending her summers swimming in the lakes and winters snowboarding. As a child she spent her time playing sports and musical instruments, but this soon gave way to needlework when she bought her first sewing machine aged 15, and “since that day I’ve been kind of addicted.”  This coincided with the development of her own personal style. “When I was 14, I got more money so I could buy my own clothes every month. I started to buy second-hand and styled myself in a very extraordinary way every day.” Though she was studying music at secondary school, all of her spare time was consumed by sewing. This hobby was to provide the foundation for her career as her designer.

“I wasn’t like the other kids at the age of 15-19,” she admits. “I was very serious- I had my first fashion show when I was 15 and after that I had one each season, as the real designers did. I really studied all of the designers and their collections at style.com. I stitched in the afternoons and sometimes during the nights as well.”

Her dedication to fashion soon paid off. As soon as she had enough clothes to form a collection, she put on a fashion show at school, roping in friends to model her designs and contacting the local press to cover the event.  Strid then started to sell her clothes directly to the luxury boutique in her town. By the time she was 19, she had gone on to study sewing and patternmaking at university in Borås and was also selling her pieces in a store there, as well as in the store in her hometown.

Despite the remarkable achievement of having her own business before she had even left university, Strid decided to put her own label on hold at the end of 2006 in order to concentrate on building her portfolio. In spite of her promise as a fashion designer, Strid found herself rejected from both the Swedish School of Textiles and Central Saint Martins in London. In 2007, Strid moved out of her parents’ home and to Borås to spend a year learning men’s tailoring. Strid sees it as a turning point: “It was something different, and it felt like home. I liked to do the hand stitching, to be accurate, to let things take their time. I did lots of creative projects that year- an outfit for the superwoman who’ll save the world, two outfits in steel and leather for a steel company, and of course men’s suits.”

The following year, Strid reapplied for the SSOT and Central Saint Martins. “I did the application for Swedish School of Textiles again, working from 8.30am until 2am every day for three months, to make totally sure I had a good portfolio. I wasn’t accepted at St Martins, but I did the test for SSOT and was accepted. I was happy with that and forgot about London for a while.”

Strid resurrected her business in 2008, after a fashion fair in Gothenburg introduced her to a PR agency and helped her to develop a sales channel. This coincided with the start of her fashion design course at SSOT. Strid juggled studying with running her own brand, putting together an entire collection for her own label whilst studying. Fortunately, it was a success. Stylists based in Stockholm were frequently calling in her pieces for shoots, and Strid’s brand began to grow. Yet just as her career began to take off, she decided to take a break once again; this time to focus on her BA after realising that the pressures of running her own label alongside full-time study were too great. But before long people began to wonder where Strid and her designs were, and as a result came her ‘big boom’; orders started rolling in once again, as did scholarship offers. Finally, Strid got a studio and began to work on projects for UGG and Swerea.

It’s been intense, as the designer herself admits. “This summer I worked full time for around 100 hours per week. I had an intern and a tailor working with me and we finished both the SS and AW ’11 collections, did the photoshoots and shot a film.”

“Sometimes I make a pair of tights in one hour, and sometimes I make couture-like pieces that take 100-150 hours each,” she continues. “Sometimes things just need time. And I like to have ongoing projects. I have one huge dress in the AW11 collection that took me about 130 hours to make, and you can really see it. Then I have one cocktail dress that’s braided, and one crocheted dress from two earlier collections that took the same time, but you wouldn’t guess it.”

But all the hard work has certainly paid off, especially given the reception to Strid’s showing of her collection at Stockholm Fashion Week. “It was great and a good opportunity to be seen. And I had a great day with all my male models, they were so very nice and the atmosphere was very relaxed. But next time I want to have a big ‘boom’ show, a whole concept for everyone and I don’t want a single person walking away without thinking and feeling something. It’s important to inspire people and make them reflect over what they see.”

Strid admits that Sweden’s fashion industry has a long way to go before it can compare to the likes of London or Paris. “Maybe in the future, but not right now. Lots of brands leave Stockholm Fashion Week to show in London and Copenhagen. That’s a pity, since it could be so good (if they stayed). But I think it would be hard for Stockholm to ever become that big. Sweden is a small country and the brands there are quite commercial. If everyone would dare to overstate ten times more than they do now, they could come a bit closer.”

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Words Kay Weston Images Henrik Bengtsson/Imaginara