Reykjavík Grapevine - 24.08.2012, Page 40

40 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 13 — 2012PHOTOGRAPHy
Propelling Forward Snoop-Around visits
Helga Lilja, fashion designer and founder
of Helicopter clothing
Have you been doing this for a
long time?
I started making clothes upon
graduating from the Iceland Academy
of the Arts in 2006, when I was 23
years old. I started using a heat press
to print on hoodies, trying to go as
far as I could from what I was doing
at the Academy. I sold my hoodies
at The Naked Ape where I had a
successful run before Heiða, founder
of Nikita, offered me a job with her,
which was great. After almost three
years I was craving to create myself,
so in December 2010 I started design-
ing under the Helicopter name and
style.

Has your style changed since
you started making hoodies?
It’s fancier and I use different fab-
rics now, but I still see it as everyday
wear. I keep it casual; it’s important
to me that people feel comfortable
in what they are wearing. I design
clothes that I want to wear and I want
to wear things that are practical and
look nice at the same time.
After you close your store 20BÉ,
where will we find Helicopter?
We are closing this store, but
Helicopter is now part of the collab-
orative shop Kiosk at Laugavegur 65,
and I also started selling at Karrusel
in Copenhagen, the Duty Free store
at the Keflavík airport, Birna on
Skólavörðustígur and even at a shop
in Eskifjörður called LV.
The autumn/winter 2012–13 line
is in production now and will be
available in stores in the beginning of
September with an opening party at
Kiosk. I like working in a shop where
my clothes are sold, being around
my customers and learning from the
experience about what I can do bet-
ter. I wouldn't want to be completely
separated from them.
Where do you draw inspiration
these days?
As cliché as it sounds, I just got
back from the LungA arts festival in
the east of Iceland, and it is just so in-
spiring to get out of the city and be in
the Icelandic nature. But I’m inspired
by a variety of things. For example, I
found a cushion at my grandmother’s
house which I used to make the pat-
tern for my summer 2012 collection,
and Wilson's Bird of Paradise, with its
strong colours and feathers, inspired
my coming winter collection.
Next summer, though, it’ll be
something different and even though
I draw inspiration from looking at
books and pictures, I might wind
up with something totally different
when it comes down to it. I tend to be
spontaneous in this way. It's almost
more like specific things, such as my
family and childhood, especially my
old toys, inspire me more generally to
work and create.
What’s the most important thing
you’ve learned over the past six
years?
What I am learning and discover-
ing now is not to rush things. I have
so many ideas and there are so many
things that I would love to do, but I
know that it would be too much too
soon. Most of my time doesn't go into
the actual design; it mostly goes into
the logistics that come with the ter-
ritory as well as working in the store.
But at the moment I have no interest
in doing anything else because it
gives me everything I want in life.
- ERLA STEINþóRSDóTTIR
Snoop Around
Nanna Dís
snooparound snoop-around.com
In the last six years, fashion designer Helga Lilja Magnúsdóttir has gone from making street
hoodies to founding her own fashion brand, Helicopter. While she is now in the process of clos-
ing her store 20BÉ and moving into a new studio, she is far from running out of ideas. We meet
Helga at 20BÉ—where photographer Nanna Dís snags a dress from her closing sale—to find out
more about her plans.
“
I design clothes that
I want to wear and I
want to wear things
that are practical
and look nice at the
same time.„
Tel: +354 411 5000 • www.itr.is • www.itr.is
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