Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.06.2019, Blaðsíða 16

ArtisAn BAkery
& Coffee House
Open everyday 6.30 - 21.00
Laugavegur 36 · 101 reykjavik
As Marko Svart and his partner, Momo
Hayashi, show me around their one-
month-old store, they’re like new
parents—happy, nervous, tired, but
immensely proud. And they have every
right to be. Having worked their way up
from a stand at Kólaportið and selling
jewellery at pop-ups and street stalls,
their new boutique is the culmination
of the hard work they’ve put into their
brand, SVART by Svart.
Making for me
The shop on Týsgata is beautiful and
inviting, with a bright blue wall behind
the counter and simple wooden furni-
ture—all handmade by the owners
themselves. In fact, every single item
in the shop was made by Marko and
Momo, from the racks of hand-stitched
minimalist clothing to postcards,
marine-inspired jewellery and slightly
surprising stuffed whales. But even the
whales represent the minimum-waste
ethos of the brand: they’re made from
leftover scraps of material, in the spirit
of the ‘slow fashion’ movement.
The path to the store’s grand opening
was long. Originally from Stockholm,
Marko studied the arts at university,
specialising in contemporary dance. It
was while he was a student that he began
to experiment with clothing design.
“I started making clothes for myself,”
says Marko. “Because I couldn’t find the
right things on the market. When I
started wearing my own clothes, other
people would ask, ‘Where did you get
that?’ I was so proud to be able to say ‘I
made this!’”
A new culture
Stockholm, however, never felt like
the right environment for Marko. He
found the art scene too constricting
and commercial, and eventually quit his
studies. When he visited Iceland in 2014,
he immediately fell in love with what he
feels is a more accepting artistic culture.
“Even after being here for a few days,
I could see the importance of art in
general,” Marko recalls. “I feel it’s more
primal here to enjoy art, and something
that is handmade.
“At that time, there were still a lot of
‘unique’ stores in Reykjavik with inter-
esting designers who’d have a shop on
the ground floor and live on the top floor.
I was very inspired by that, and I really
wanted to open a shop here someday.”
Art or souvenirs?
Two years later, Marko made the move to
Iceland and met Momo, who’d become a
key contributor to his creative and busi-
ness ambitions. Together, they started a
line of jewellery using items like bones
and feathers they’d find on walks along
the seashore. They sold these pieces
at Kolaportið—but both admit that it
wasn’t really their scene.
“It worked quite well for a while,”
Marko says, reflectively. “But it was a
market and you have to kind of adapt
to that standard.” Adds Momo: “It was
more like souvenirs, our jewellery. It
was the main product that we sold at
the market—but we want to sell clothes
more than jewellery.”
After looking at a variety of spaces,
none of which were quite right, Marko
and Momo secured their current store-
front after randomly walking past and
spotting an ad in the window. It turns
out their residency there is particularly
fitting—the owner was once a fashion
designer herself, and is delighted to be
housing another creative brand in her
building.
Lessening impact
While Marko’s creations have always
been inspired by nature—especially
aquatic life—living in Iceland has given
him a new awareness of the fragility of
the environment. Marko and Momo both
love walking along the local beaches,
but have been distressed by the amount
of plastic waste they have encountered
alongside the feathers and shells they
collect for their designs.
“I saw a documentary about plastic,
and it was being marketed as this great
thing that happened to the world,” says
Marko. “There was one line in the docu-
mentary where the narrator said, ‘plastic
is great because it’s even in our clothes!’
I’d never thought of it that way, and it hit
me suddenly that polyester fabrics are
plastic, and when you put it in the wash-
ing machine it releases microplastics.”
Marko’s current collection is a direct
response to his new understanding
of the harmful impacts of man-made
materials. Made entirely from sustain-
able fabrics and decorated with gentle
botanical colours and prints, the collec-
tion is a fitting continuation of Marko’s
aspirations to build sustainability into
his practice. “I always need to challenge
myself,” he says. “If I make something
for someone then they can probably keep
it for the rest of their life.”
Unplastic Fashion
The story of Marko Svart’s handmade, environmentally friendly design
Marko Svart and his partner Momo Hayashi
Marko's jewellery is handmade, environmentally-minded... and stunning
Words:
Josie Gaitens
Photos:
Art Bicnick
News 16 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 10— 2019
“It hit me
suddenly that
polyester is
plastic, and if
you put it in the
washing machine
it releases
microplastics.”
Boutique &
Fashion Brand
Visit SVART by
Svart at Týsgata 1
or online at www.
markosvart.com