Iceland review - 2002, Page 59

of the early 21st century, but risk it becom-
ing just that. In the ‘30s, for instance, skate
skin was a fashionable high-end leather.
Though beautiful, it was stiff, impractical,
and it disappeared. Sjávarledur aims to
transcend any temporal status. “Now, we
want companies that are not so marginal
to use it,” says Sigrún. “We want the world
to acknowledge this as just another high-
class leather.”
And once they succeed, they face the
challenge of maintaining control over a
successful product. As Sigrún puts it, “We
want it to be used a lot, but not for things
made in Hong Kong.” Shouldn’t be too
hard: Christian Dior’s Fall 2002 petit sac
rose en peau de poisson (small, pink fish-
skin bag) will retail anywhere from 1,900-
2,300 euros/dollars.
So while bathing suits are not – and
never have been – on the Sjávarledur agen-
da, another marketing coup is. And judg-
ing from what Sjávarledur has proved
themselves capable of so far, get ready to
go fish.
Krista Mahr is a freelance writer from Los
Angeles, sorely disappointed to learn that leather
smell is fake.
F r e n c h d e s i g n e r D a v i d M e y e r F r e n c h d e s i g n e r J o h n G a l l i a n o
S p a n i s h d e s i g n e r V i n c e n t R a y
51 IR302 - In Rvk CL bs-rm 2.9.2002 16:32 Page 57