Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.03.2010, Síða 11

Are you dirt poor or ugly as hell?
Body all weird and bulging all over
the place? Fashion make you feel
all insecure and incompetent? Don’t
worry—you can still get down and
participate at Reykjavík Fashion
Festival, as it has a most excellent
music programme that ought
to satisfy even the most fashion
challenged amongst us! The electro-
heavy programme is packed with
exciting acts to float your boat for
the duration of the festival, especially
if you’re into dancing and fucking
various ailments away.
Indeed, the bill features top local
talent such as Bloodgroup, Sykur
and Retro Stefson alongside Ms.
‘fatherfucker’ herself, Peaches! We
called up London expat Nick Knowles,
one of the music programme’s
organisers, to learn more about it.
Nick, by the way, worked for many
years marketing the UK's biggest
music magazines. He first got involved
in the Icelandic music scene when he
brought Kerrang! over to Airwaves
back in 2003 and has over the years
developed a close relationship with
the Icelandic creative community.
“It was just a matter of time before
I finally made the move to what had
become my second home. I quit my
job at the end of last year to pursue
music and fashion projects here,
when I heard about RFF I jumped at
the opportunity to get involved.”
You've just announced an
ambitious music program for
the Reykjavík Fashion Festival.
How does the music angle play
into the Fashion Festival—do you
believe the two entities are closely
connected and if so, how?
Absolutely! Fashion and music have
had an often inextricably linked
common heritage and common
attitude. There has always been a
mutual influence between fashion
and music, after all both are rooted
in performance and standing out,
whether it’s on stage or on the street.
There are a number of times over the
decades when the crossover has been
particularly strong. Obvious examples
being Vivienne Westwood's punk
styling, the New Romantics of the
‘80s and the grunge-inspired catwalk
shows of the early ‘90s.
Does the programme play with the
fashion angle—do the musicians
involved have any connections
with the world of fashion?
Are there ways in which you'll try
and link up the two entities?
In particular, Peaches has a very
strong connection with fashion.
Championing a number of up-and-
coming designers, her electrifying
shows have become notable for
an impressive number of costume
changes. Don’t be too surprised if you
see the output of notable Icelandic
designers becoming part of her show.
The programme leans heavily on
electro and club bangers.
Are those styles of music more
connected with the fashion world
than, say, RAWK or death metal?
Fashion's link to music has always
had a bias towards the experimental,
whether it’s the original punk
movement, ‘80s electro or the latest
Pete Doherty-style indie. A lot of the
fashionable side of music, particularly
in London, is linked with art colleges
with a close and tangible link to
fashion. There is certainly a bias in the
fashion world towards electro, but I
wouldn't say that it’s exclusive. Proto-
indie band the Velvet Underground
were of course Andy Warhol's house
band at the Factory—the melting-pot
of cutting edge music, fashion, art and
film in 60s New York.
Do you see the RFF becoming an
annual event? How do you see it
evolving?
Definitely. As an outsider, I’ve
always considered Iceland to be an
extraordinary country. The amount of
creative talent here is remarkable and
I could see RFF becoming a showcase
for this talent across the creative
spectrum. RFF becoming an essential
event, not just for the international
press, but also for the refined and
discerning international traveller.
RFF Will Also Bring Some Noise
11
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 03 — 2010
Fashion | Music
Nick Knowles
RFF Music Organization
THURSDAY
RFF Launch party
@ Kaffibarinn – 21:00
Berndsen
Oculus
FRIDAY
Kaffibarinn – 22:00
Jungle Fiction
NASA – 00:00
GusGus
Retro Stefson
Air France (SE) - DJ Set
SATURDAY
Kaffibarinn – 22:00
Captain Fufanu
NASA – 22:00
Peaches (DE)
Bloodgroup
Sykur
Ladytron (UK) - DJ Set
GET WITH THE PROGRAMME:
The music program is produced and presented by Faxaflói / Great Bay ltd.
in collaboration with RFF. Check ‘em out at www.faxafloi.is
clothing of some sort. The divide is really
between 101 Reykjavík and the rest of the
country as far as I can tell. There’s something
edgy about the 101 crowd, the kids there are
original and alert. The rest of us just wear
fleece.
10. My locale is 101, I live and work there,
and I rate the crowd there as being stylish, hip
and cool. But it doesn’t go beyond that really,
that small downtown crowd that is fashion
conscious.
connected to our currency system. Focusing
on the benefits, though, the isolation factors
in, as well as the fact that one often benefits
from being an Icelander—you can be a big
fish in a small pond. Over here you have the
network, the language and a general under-
standing of how things are done. Of course,
since I only work locally, I am not prone to the
troubles other designers that actively work
with factories abroad will experience. I don’t
use them, so maybe I am a bit of an anomaly.
3. I believe that pretty much every idea the
outside world has about Iceland being cool or
fashionable stems directly from Björk. Leave
her out of the equation and you’d mostly have
people connecting us with Icelandic wool and
products made from fish skin. Icelanders are
perceived as being somewhat edgy, some-
what cool, which again I think we can directly
credit to Björk, Sigur rós and our musicians.
We have no history or breakthroughs in the
global fashion market, but we do have an
edge and some people associate a quality of
cool to us.
Be that as it may, the fashion world is built
on an old tradition and is a large machine.
I think attempts and activities to make
Icelanders aware of the industry and its needs
are good and well, but staging any sort of
Icelandic fashion week at this stage is a little
ludicrous. Local promotion is fine, but expect-
ing buyers and the world at large to embrace
yet another fashion week is frankly unrealis-
tic—industry buyers can only visit so and so
many cities each year. I think that since we
are pretty much starting from scratch here,
we should rather attempt to link ourselves
further to the Copenhagen Fashion Week and
Scandinavian fashion in general, instead of
attempting to invent the wheel ourselves.
4. No it isn’t competitive with the outside
world. We have no factories and produce no
fabrics except for wool and skin. Furthermore
our currency is very unstable, which cripples
the industry even further.
As a whole, I think we are very eager and
willing, and that there are many good ideas
with lots of potential floating around, but
we are still just in the process of taking our
first steps on this journey. Fashion design
has been taught in this country for a decade
now, and in many ways we are a very small,
isolated village on the edge of the world. We
can’t expect everything we do to be Björk.

5. This is a guiding principle. I am a
sustainable fashion designer, and I would
think it incredibly cool if Icelanders were to
asset their unique position by striving for
sustainability and environmentalism in these
areas, since we are so small and there is a hip
‘n’ cool element associated with us. Imagine if
the few people that are involved with fashion
here would come together and agree to an
honour code of sustainability, environmental-
ism, humanitarian and ethical concerns. We
could—due to our small size and all our clean
energy—set an example for the rest of the
world. Not only would our hands be clean of
a lot of the foul things that are going on in the
industry, it would also serve as an excellent
promotional tool and talking point for Icelan-
dic fashion. I believe that those who wish to
be successful in this field in the future need
to get their act together right now.

6. All of the above concerns are priority
issues for us, with localism and environmental
conservation being the biggest factors. Our
products just cost what they have to cost;
we are lucky enough that there are enough
people out there that like what we do and are
willing to pay a price for it.
7. Well. It’s affected us the same way it’s
affected everybody. Dealing with our cur-
rency is bothersome, obviously. But I would
say that the crash has affected Icelandic
fashion designers in a positive way more
than anything. In the aftermath that whole
“Choose Icelandic” campaign was launched
and that brought local shoppers’ attention to
us. They’re even feeling protective of the local
industries; I’ve had people coming into the
store to ask if we’re selling local designs and
making their purchases mostly based on that.
Long story short: our sales have been up, but
the currency is fucked.
8. I am not sure. This is a difficult question.
I am very isolated in my workings, just doing
my thing here in my studio. I would say my
working environment is perfect, really, as I
am not in the export business and don’t have
to deal with factories abroad or any kind of
bureaucracy in that regard.

9. I am not quite sure, but I have given the
subject a lot of thought as I get asked this
in interviews all the time. There’s something
there... Hmmm. There is a core of Icelanders
that dresses well and fashionably, but most of
them just loll around sporting fleece or black
1. E-label has been alive for two and a half
years now. We manufacture women’s clothing
in India and sell it in the UK and Iceland. I am
founder and co-owner of the label, and acting
manager.

2. Operating in the Icelandic market right
now is very difficult due to the economic
situation —manufacturing abroad and paying
for it with Icelandic currency has become a
very expensive process. The environment is
not working with us in that way. Furthermore
the government all but ignores our sector
and provides few stipends and incentives.
Working here sometimes feels like swimming
upstream.
What’s good about operating in Iceland
however is the network you have at your
disposal, and the energy stemming from the
designers and people. It keeps you alive.

3. I don’t believe we’ve properly made a
name for ourselves. And we did suffer a bit of
a setback when that whole Iceland Fashion
Week debacle hit the international media—
that wasn’t very positive for the local industry.
Still, the perception is probably neither posi-
tive nor negative—it’s mainly lacking. We need
more funding to market ourselves internation-
ally, right now it’s important that the Icelandic
government realise that putting money into
promoting local fashion and design abroad
will benefit every Icelander, help create jobs
and stimulate export.

4. I would say our industry is at the begin-
ning stages; naturally, some companies have
what it takes to make a name internationally
while others aren’t quite there yet. But I think
that as beginners, we’re doing well, even
though we’re just getting started. There is a
nice energy, which is indicated by the Reykja-
vík Fashion Festival.
5. This is obviously something one gives
a lot of thought, how one can give back,
social responsibilities. We manufacture our
products in India and put a lot of emphasis
on monitoring the factories to make sure they
don’t breach workers’ rights and the like.
We aren’t a huge brand, and thus we
cannot afford to buy the most environmen-
tally sound fabrics. Since we are getting
good prices in India we decided to give back
to the community there, however, and are
sponsoring a local women’s empowerment
called Saathi, which supports youth living on
the street, runaways and homeless women
by offering medical services, education and
the like. We donate 3% of our profits to the
program and are proud of our contributions.
We furthermore try and benefit our local com-
munity by promoting and selling the creations
of young designers that are getting afoot in
the business.

6. As I said, we produce everything in a
single factory in India that ensures great
quality at good prices. I spend around three
months per year at that factory and it meets
all of my conditions regarding worker safety,
working hours and the like. Even though I
don’t consider it the nicest place to spend my
time, their conditions are acceptable.

7. Sales in Iceland have increased post-
collapse, and there is a greater demand for
Icelandic design locally. We’ve also been
trying to grow our international operations
and have placed considerable emphasis on
that. To that end, we founded a company
abroad as well.
On the downside, being an Icelander
right now does not put you in good standing
for receiving credit or the like. Which is
where our UK branch comes in handy.

8. In short, it’s hardcore. But it’s a great
place to get started I suppose—it doesn’t
get any harder than this. Yes, the local
environment is harsh, but there are upsides.
Working with the Króna is always hellish,
though, especially if you foster international
ambitions.
Ideally we could produce everything
at home for affordable prices. Right now,
it’s far too expensive. It would also be
pretty great if we didn’t have to deal with
such high tolls and import fees. In short, a
little understanding of this industry and its
conditions from the state and powers that
be would make a whole lot of difference.
And maybe a little support. Oh and having
another currency. That would be a dream.
9. The only thing I think is particularly
prominent in Icelandic style is its propensity
for fads —when something becomes vogue
everyone starts wearing it. This has been
the case for a long while. Also prominent is
Icelanders’ fondness for wearing black, at
least women. I think you see more of it here
than elsewhere.

10. I’d give them top marks; most
people dress pretty nicely and seem to put
care into their outfit.
Founder / Manager,
E-Label
Ásta Kristjánsdóttir
Fashion & Design Spotlight
HAUKUR S MAGNÚSSON
JULIA STAPLES
HAUKUR S MAGNÚSSON
JULIA STAPLES
Your Fashion
Is Showing:
The following labels are
showcasing their products at
RFF. Check out www.rff.is for
more info.
Andersen & Lauth
Áróra
Birna
Blik
8045
E-label
ELM
Emami
Farmers Market
Go With Jan
GuSt
Hildur Yeoman
Kalda
Lúka
Mundi
Nikita
Royal Extreme
Skaparinn
Sonja Bent
Spaksmannsspjarir
Sruli Recht
Thelma Björk