Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.03.2012, Side 21

21
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 3 — 2012
Fashion | Interview
Fashion Is A Growing Trade
With DesignMarch and the Reykja-
vík Fashion Festival on the calendar,
spring is for sure an exciting time
for Iceland’s fashion designers and
enthusiasts. Helping to start the
fashion department at The Iceland
Academy of Arts twelve years ago,
Linda Árnadóttir—who is also the
creative director for Scintilla and
a long time collaborator of Martine
Sitbon—has been undoubtedly in-
fluential in growing the scene. She
tells us a little bit about it…

Why is fashion important?
Fashion defines time and periods,
and time periods are defined by world
events that influence fashion. When we
look at photos of our ancestors, the era
in which they were taken is often un-
mistakable. If we all wore the same type
of clothing it would be difficult for us to
show our character and social status;
time would stand still and we wouldn’t
feel progress.
What impact has the fashion de-
partment had on fashion as a pro-
fession?
A lot has changed in the last ten years.
When I graduated, people considered
fashion a hobby, not a profession. Ice-
landers have over time realised the im-
portance of fashion. As The Academy
produces more qualified professionals
and the public becomes more informed,
the discourse has changed. People see
fashion as a growing trade. It provides
a large number of jobs and foreign in-
come; in France, fashion is the biggest
export. Investors are becoming increas-
ingly aware of the financial benefits of
investing in fashion. Our creative fields
are developing and if we continue on
this path, they will bring us more cash
in the bank than fishing and the alu-
minium smelters.
The Academy has bred an ever-ex-
panding group of creative people and
their influence is very visible in Reyk-
javík. There is a marked change in the
fashion professions and people making
a living from fashion—fashion photog-
raphers, stylists and journalists. Al-
though not all of our graduates become
fashion designers, a proportion of them
work in related fields. Reykjavík has a
group of world-famous trendsetters
such as Björk and Sigur Rós.
Does the fashion department have
a specific vision?
We follow the European tradition of
avant-garde design, which is taught
at the best fashion schools in Britain.
Not everybody understands this, so we
constantly have to defend and explain
our vision.
What are the biggest challenges
that fashion designers face in Ice-
land?
Young designers have to start by de-
signing small lines, and due to Iceland’s
geographical location, the production
process can be slow. Factories priori-
tize their bigger clients, which means
the smaller designer gets their product
late and therefore delivers late to the
shops. This in turn makes a shop less
inclined to buy from them again.
However, I see the economic de-
pression as an opportunity to begin
more production in Iceland, such as
a clothing factory. Now is the chance,
while the króna is weak and the market
is showing a need for that type of ser-
vice.
After getting past the first stage,
designers must develop a strong trade-
mark and identity, as design ideas get
stolen all the time in this age of fast in-
formation. KronKron has done a good
job doing that; nobody makes shoes
like they do so it’s easy to spot an imita-
tion. Nobody wants to wear a replica—
it’s lame.
What is the meaning/purpose of
DesignMarch and the Reykjavík
Fashion Festival?
Events like these can present oppor-
tunities, but they need to be done pro-
fessionally and with ambition. Quality
participants must be selected. If you’re
getting the fashion media, you have to
understand that they have high stan-
dards. Events that are planned and
executed poorly by amateurs can be
harmful to the image of Icelandic de-
sign. I hope that these events will be
outstanding this year. It was nice to see
former Academy of the Arts students
surpass other labels at the past two
events.
Words
Ragnheiður Axel
photo
Alísa Kalyanova
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Veteran Linda Árnadóttir weighs in on the industry