Iceland review - 2002, Page 53

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Kristín and her baby boy
Kristín Cardew has been running the store 21A on Skólavördustígur for slightly more
than a year, selling clothing designed and made by her own hand. Cardew has set up a
retreat in the basement of her home in Eyrarbakki (southwest Iceland), where she goes
to draw up designs and create her masterpieces. She learned to make her own clothing
from her grandmother, Kristín Karolína Jónsdóttir, who had studied the craft of cloth-
ing design professionally. Cardew has been designing and making clothing since she
was a young girl, using material such as flax, cotton, wool or mohair. These materials
give her designs a distinctly natural look.
Cardew takes her time to contemplate her materials before they begin to form into
pieces of clothing. And often it is the materials, rather than the designer, who get the
final say. Cardew’s designs are distinguished by their pure style and femininity. She her-
self says that her clothes are not “fashion items”, but rather timeless and simple. She
prefers to enjoy designing clothing to the full, rather than submit to the stress and com-
petition of the fashion world. LÁ
Timeless Simplicity
Fashion in_reykjavík
51 IR302 - In Rvk CL bs-rm 2.9.2002 16:24 Page 51