Twelve days ago Ellen Hodakova Larson won the prestigious LVMH Prize, becoming the first Swede to do so. This, plus a plethora of celebrity endorsements via the red carpet (here's looking at you, Cate Blanchett), meant that there was greater interest in her show than ever before. The spring collection worked as a primer to those new to the Hodakova world, and held plenty of interest for those who were better acquainted with it.
There are many points of differentiation to Larsson’s work; foremost among them is the designer herself. She’s a feet-on-the-ground person who is happiest in the country surrounded by woods and fields and horses and dogs. Her upcycling approach to fashion is based on the make-do and mend values she grew up with. This season the designer took a walk down memory lane. “For me it’s been a dive into warmth and feeling proud about where you come from,” she said. “I find so much comfort in going back in memories… and my memories are in objects, so it’s more about smells, images, pieces—all of the physical things.” Because of the materials they are made of, deadtock, vintage, and salvage, Hodakova’s designs evoke the past. They carry tales, but neither the designer nor her garments are retro, rather Larsson’s aim is, she explained, “to be present all the time.”
By this she seems to mean to be curious, to question and explore. She doesn’t want to dwell in the past, but look at what is in new ways. Can a boot be made into a dress? (Mais oui!) But also, how can one go about doing fashion in a new way? And where is value and preciousness to be found? It’s a fallacy, I think, to say that fashion is democratic, but Larsson’s materials come close to meeting that definition. In her eyes nacre buttons, plastic eyeglass lenses, and zippers are jewels and discarded status symbols; like démodé fur hats can become coquettish dresses.
There was a touch of Surrealism in Larsson’s boots with two sets of uppers, and a grown-up sense of sensuality in body-hugging dresses made of many, many, many zippers, which fell loose into sonorous fringe at the hems. It’s funny that the Hodakova show was held so close to Elsa Schiaparelli’s maison, as the designer also worked with these then-new fasteners and is famous for her collaborations with artists like Salvador Dalí. Shocking pink, and generally getting a rise out of people, was Schiap’s m.o.; Larsson leads by example by following her heart. Still, this season had its dramatic moments. Materiality has been the designer’s main focus, but she said she wanted to focus more on silhouettes, and did so with some face-covering column dresses, done her way. We’ve seen similar shapes elsewhere; the starting point for these, the designer said, was mushrooms. (Mushroom gathering is quite a popular pastime in Scandinavia.)
In order for Larsson to use landscape paintings as fabric for garments and an amazing tote bag, she had to take them out of their frames, hence the frame dresses. The argyles of last season were back and looking as desirable as ever; they were a good compliment to a tweed jacket with shirt and sweater sleeves built into to give the casual tied-around-the-neck-look. Adding a Swedish country touch were looks made of red and white checked and monogrammed dish clothes. There were woven belt bags made in the shape of traditional wooden berry and gathering baskets, the latter worn like backpacks.
Charming as these homey, rustic touches were, they shared space with truly sophisticated looks, and also functioned like breadcrumbs pointing to Larsson’s higher purpose. “I want to give a little bit of warmth and harmony; I want to showcase and highlight an enjoyable life,” she said. Often, “comfort means following a route or a system, but I think we can make our own routes instead of following all of the others,” she continued, [and this will allow us to] “see potential in things with which we can create our own worlds.”
