Following 12 years at Acne Studios, and after shifting to the helm of HOPE in 2017 as Head of Design, it only took one year for Frida Bard to win ELLE Designer of The Year. Having just received our new SS21 delivery from the Swedish brand, here we explore some of our favourite designer’s thoughts behind her work, cultivating a contemporary and progressive brand whose passion for diversity, creativity and self expression is so evident.
On Her Design Philosophy: My vision as a designer is to reflect and act upon society and its movements. My philosophy lies therein—to create clothes that start and develop a relevant dialogue, whether it’s around a collection, a silhouette or a specific garment.
On Getting Dressed for Work: My ritual is trying to feel my current mood and letting that dictate what I wear. I usually end up with a shirt and some sort of trouser though.
On what makes her feel most accomplished at the end of the workday: When I’ve had time to work with my team on new ideas. Some days are spent mostly on administrative things like emails and manager meetings. That’s great too, but it’s the shared creativity with my design team that gives me a kick.
On Gender Fluidity: Fashion can be a great medium for progressive values. It can serve as a vehicle for expression, so you would think that breaking down gender roles would be a natural progression. It’s important that we let people explore; society needs to become more flexible. We have to elevate our appreciation of individuality and embrace those who challenge the norm. We work with separate men’s and women’s collections, but the styles are tied to an identical reference point. Challenging the perception of gender is an underlying assumption rather than a tangible input.
On Sustainability: We are proud to say we have good efficiency in our production and sales where we don’t overproduce products or sample collections. We have a low percentage of cut-outs (maximum 10% in total). We have slim-lined our assortment and now only focus on the core products, cutting the tails and letting go of categories that feel are not sustainable. In addition to that, we are trying out new materials that are more conscious in the way they’re produced.
On The Typical 'HOPE-Customer': I don’t like to answer this question since I find it easy to become excluding. What I can say is that many of our customers are very conscious, artistic and interested in quality and design.
Sources: Kinfolk Magazine, hope-sthlm.com.