On craft as continuum

Throughout history, textile craft has been deeply interwoven with the female experience. Across societies, women have created handmade textiles for their homes and families, for exchange within communities, and for small-scale trade beyond their immediate surroundings. Weaving, knitting, crocheting, and embroidery have long shaped the rhythm of everyday life – a practice passed down through time and reimagined in bold artistic forms, forming both tradition and identity.  

For our SS25 collection, a vintage Swedish tablecloth – found in a second-hand shop in Stockholm specialising in antique handmade textiles – became the starting point for a small series of white summer garments in linen and cotton, adorned with tonal cutwork embroidery.  

‘That store is such a treasure chest,’ says Alina Brane, our womenswear concept designer. ‘Just stepping inside, you’re immediately struck by the beauty and delicacy of all these pieces that have been collected over the years. As women working with textile design, we’re part of this cultural lineage – even though we’re modern, and our daily lives differ in many ways, we’re still connected to the same tradition. When you work with fabric and shape, you feel it in your hands – an inherited presence that you also want to carry forward. It feels like such a meaningful thing. By incorporating some of these older techniques into our context, and borrowing from an expression of the past, we can pay tribute to the cultural knowledge we’ve had the fortune to inherit.’   

The presence of craft and the handmade has seen a strong resurgence in fashion and design in recent years. A longing for slowness and authenticity, perhaps – a counterpoint to fast processes and digital lifestyles – resulting in products made with intention and care. This shift has also given rise to an increasingly inspiring convergence of textile art, fashion, and interior design.  

‘For this series, we wanted to preserve as much of the original feeling as possible,’ Alina continues. ‘On several pieces, we worked with the rectangular shape of the cloth itself. The edges were kept intact, and we draped them into form rather than cutting. You see it clearly in the dress and the top – laid flat, they’re just large rectangles, but by tilting them, adding buttons and straps, we managed to keep a lot of the original structure. Even though the fabrics in our garments aren’t as washed or worn as those we found in the vintage shop, I still think you can feel the spirit of the original piece.’