Colville...Where Good Styling Lies

Colville is a relatively new label. It’s co-founded by Lucinda Chambers (former Fashion Director of British Vogue), and designers Molly Molloy and Kristin Forss. With live out loud bold colors, spunky prints and cool girl layering vibes, it’s destined to be fashion’s next big thing. Colville inaugural’s release back in 2018 was only available on econ website, Matches Fashion.

This season the brand presented its SS20 collection in the fashion capital city of Milan. Colville’s distinctive aesthetic was on full form with loads of multi-layered dresses with cool asymmetric silhouettes in beautiful prints. I also love the streetwear element of the pieces. The added masculinity paired alongside the silk dresses literally screams originality and edge. There is truly something for everyone in this collection. Colville is a SOSNU brand on the rise because of our shared sustainability values. Not only did the designers worked collectively with Colombian women to create woven accessories, upcycled silk scarves were patched together to create dresses, gowns and other one of a kind pieces.

Swedish Fashion Council Cancels Fashion Week in Stockholm

Could Sweden’s fashion council be forecasting what’s to come in other major fashion capitals by cancelling Stockholm’s SS20 fashion week?

As we embark upon fashion month and all of it’s excitement, we must recognize that one of the renowned fashion city’s will not be participating this season. Although I have yet to visit Stockholm, it’s on my buckle list of places to live and work, and especially experience the energy that comes with rushing from show to show during fashion week.

Last month after the Swedish Fashion Council initially released a statement that Stockholm’s Fashion Week event would be stepping away from it’s traditional format, organizers later announced that they had decided to forego the event indefinitely.

Reasons given for the cancellations focus on working to create more sustainability and to develop alternative practices; as well as provide better opportunities and support for the local fashion talent. Personally I think this idea is wonderful, and it’s a great way to stand up for what you believe and actually practice what your preach. Sadly, sustainability has become on of those buzzwords that so many “conscious” people use nowadays. Although we don’t quite know exactly what the Swedish Fashion Council will do in place of hosting large expensive stage shows for designers, I do believe that they are making strides in the right direction. Jennie Rosen, CEO of the Swedish Fashion Council said, “By doing this we can adapt to new demands, reach sustainability goals and be able to set new standards for fashion.” She also goes on to say that with Sweden’s extensively growing fashion industry that it’s crucial to support designers and brands of the next generation.

Does fashion week do more harm than good?

…especially for smaller brands. Yes there are runway presentations, and loads of people (buyers, editors, influencers, etc.) there to witness the shows but if you are a very small brand who can’t afford to produce those extravagant items, then what’s the point? I think that’s what the Swedish Fashion Council is looking to change. Many larger brands and designers have already started to merge their runways show into see now, buy now strategy offering consumers instant access to purchase pieces.

Although the Swedish Fashion Council hasn’t revealed its new strategy for Fashion Week in Stockholm just yet, they have created a few initiatives such as: Fashion Talent incubator for emerging designers that focuses on promoting overall brand sustainability aiding with business, trademarking and consultancy; and the Swedish Fashion Ethical Charter which is a new policy that forces accountability among fashion industry leaders to ensure shared values and guidelines on body ideals, diversity and issues of social responsibility.

Overall I am very excited to see what’s to come from this fashion week revamp. Yes I’m sure many fashion aficinados are disappointed that there will not be SS20 runway shows this season; however, designers are still having presentations through showroom appointments and their social media accounts to engage and interact with fans. Also we can all look to the other Scandinavian capitals, Oslo and Copenhagen, for our fashion fix.

Copenhagen Fashion Week AW 2019

I don’t really do fashion week recaps because that can become quite overwhelming, plus that’s not what we’re doing over here on SOSNU. However, Copenhagen is my favorite city that I have yet to visit, and I loveeeee the fun and quirky designs that the Danes produce. So each season I highlight my favorite designers and take a closer look at their collections. I have been working really hard to create my “reason why” and to be invited to the shows in the Fall. Wish me luck. Hopefully in September I am reporting fashion highlights live from Denmark’s capital city.

Baum und Pferdgarten is one of Copenhagen’s most popular fashion brands, and that’s not very surprising that it has lasted 20 years. The Baum und Pfer girl is the carefree, effortlessly cool girl around town…quite relatable wouldn’t you say? However, this season their collection wasn’t one of my favorites. Yes there was beautiful furs and outerwear in nice prints, and I loved the layering techniques and usage of accessories. However, I didn’t see the collection as being very cohesive. It was very hard for me to identify parallel themes and inspirations from piece to piece. I had to do a bit of digging to get narrative of what the designers were specifically inspired by.

The byline for the Stine Goya collection this season should have been, “for the carefree woman that loves to let loose”. The designer used her platform to shine an even brighter light on sustainability by using upcycled fabrics and vibrant embellishments, even going as far as using digitally crafted prints to create this season. Despite not having an ordinary RTW runway show, I thought it was really cool how dancers gave a beautiful dance performance wearing glamorous, eco-friendly costumes.

Ganni is a brand we all know and love, but is it a brand that we all identify with? With this collection the designers wanted to show a collection that presented a different perception of the beautiful blonde Ganni girl. All grown up that girl is now a sophisticated woman. Inspired by photos of deserts, cityscapes, fields and wilderness the name of this collection is “Life on Earth”, the new Ganni woman is a nomadic wanderer. I could easily see myself and my group of friends wearing these pieces. The trench coats, full length puffers, silks, rich colors and abstract prints scored mega points with me, not to mention the brand is taking awareness of their carbon footprint through sustainable practices hit high notes in my book.

Although this collection may appear to be aesthetically similar to collections in the past, Cecilie Bahnsen actually had intentions to introduce more mystery and darkness for AW 2019. The color palette veered from the whimsical white baby doll dresses and sandals to white and black baby doll dresses styled with combat boots?!?! No, but in the designers defense the variances are settle, but present.

This collection literally screamed refinement, luxe and effortless sophistication. The By Marlene Birger woman is who I aspire to be when I grow up. She has it all - the career, the family and the beautiful wardrobe. Although the designer didn’t shy away from the use of color and prints, it was done in a subtle and almost minimalist way.