• photography by SANDRA MYHRBERG stylist MEGHAN SCOTT 
    make up MICHAELA MYHRBERG hair ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ 
    model BEATA / Minus 20° Mgmt 
    photographers assistant JEANETTE SEFLIN
    all rings BEDAZZLED

    An interview with Lina Michal

    Written by Mari Florer

    The Swedish fashion designer Lina Michal’s summer has been tumultuous. When she was going through a really tough period, her life suddenly switched direction. She became the first Swede to win the Vogue Talents Young Vision Award 2013.

    In collaboration with the Danish fashion label Muuse she is now in the process of producing her collection: Heathen Hearts. Her garments are mostly stitched by hand and it will be a challenge to translate them into a ready to wear collection.
    – I don’t know if it’s even possible. It might be something completely different, she says.

    Lina seems like a woman with a lot of self knowledge. She describes herself as a restless person with a lot of energy. She always has projects going on and she usually has too much to do. Her strategy right now is to reduce her schedule. She wants to be more spontaneous - enjoying whatever happens. The only thing she has planned this fall is that she will be an intern at Opening Ceremony in New York.
    – I have always wanted to live in NY and now the time is perfect. There is nothing that will keep me in Sweden anymore and I’m free to do what I want.

    The weeks prior to the Vogue competition, there was a lot of heavy stuff happening in Lina’s life.
    – My grandmother passed away, I was separating with my boyfriend and I became homeless. I was broke because I had spent my last money on the collection. In addition, I was also searching for a job and I think I applied for 60 jobs without getting a single reply. At that moment I was thinking; Am I so bad, really?
    No one had explained to me that it was difficult to get jobs in New York as a Swedish designer. So when I realized that, I was thinking: what shall I do?”

    So, what did you do?

    Fortunately grandmother had left some money to me. It felt almost like she had planned this. When I was counting on it, there was just enough money to do an internship in NY for five months. I started to look for a place to stay in NY. At the same time I found out that I would participate in the Vogue contest. I never thought I would win.
    Due to the fashion award that I receive from Vogue a lot of people from the fashion business contacted me to discuss collaborations.

    What was your inspiration to Heathen Hearts?

    My collection is inspired from old Swedish traditions. In Sweden we have a long history of the animistic. My inspiration comes from midsummer traditions and the Elsa Beskow books. I wanted to work with something that was not about functionalism - something that was more decorated.

    What do you think about contemporary Swedish fashion?

    Swedes are very driven by functional and practical thinking. There’s nothing wrong with that. I am just a little frustrated that there never is anything else. Form and function are very important to us and that’s why it’s taboo to explore an aesthetic for its own sake. It’s much more socially acceptable to talk about beauty in other countries.

    So, do you think we need something new?

    Yes. I’m a little tired of the symmetrical shapes. The Balenciaga trend that existed a long time now is super and really beautiful, but I’m a little hungry for something else. And I need a break from parkas, chinos and army jackets. Though, I will not say too much. Next time maybe I will just want to make t-shirts and jeans.

    When did you realize that you wanted to become a fashion designer?

    I’m probably an annoying person because I had always knew. I was sewing already in kindergarten; although the sleeves may not really have set where they should.

    Did you have a mentor who helped you?

    Bea Szenfeld. She is the best because she is not afraid to be un-cool, unlike other Swedish designers. It suited me because I am a very un-cool person myself; I think I’m too nice.
    Bea was a very good mentor because she encouraged me to dare more.

    Your techniques; where do they come from?

    I use classic craftsmanship techniques and update them to a more contemporary aesthetic.
    For example, I made a purple dress with flowers on the sleeves and to get a more 3D feeling I cut out the parts of the flowers from the print pattern and embroidered them with pearls on the sleeves. I often work that way. I test a lot.

    Will your next collection to be this advanced?

    I wanted to try something more complicated this time but all fashion designers want people to wear their clothes. I think I will create a more wearable collection next time.

    Does your collaboration with Muuse work out well?

    Yes, they are professionals. They think of things that are important; the environment, ethics etcetera. They want to produce in Europe and they think it is important that the collection “breathes me”. They prefer quality over quantity, they say.

    How would you change the fashion world for the better?

    I want to add some responsibility, thinking and reflection. I can use models who don’t all look the same. I am a politically correct person and, as I said, rather un-cool. In the fashion world of today, it is more accepted to be provocative than to be inspiring. That’s a shame I think. There are too many remarkable things that are allowed in the fashion industry that are not allowed anywhere else. There are few who take responsibility.
    Almost in any editorial in almost any newspaper anywhere there are naked breasts as an accessory. It is both irresponsible and boring to always convey the same image.
    My schoolmate called her examination work Stop female death in visual communication. She made a visual petition in which she collected pictures of passive women in advertising. In some of the images they are so passive – they appear dead. The majority of these pictures are fashion images. This is so accepted that we do not even care when you see a man who is strangling a naked woman with his tie.

    Why do we see these photos you think?

    I think that the fashion world is not free from the rest of the world. Fashion and music picks up quickly, easily and directly current trends in time. They give us a very clear expression of what is generally going on in the head of people right now. It’s very interesting to look at fashion from a historical sociological perspective. Fashion reflects the time. It is really depressing when you think about it.

    bracelet & rings PAULA HAGERSKANS
    2nd ring on middle finger BJØRG
    top MADE BY STYLIST
    pumps HUGO BOSS
    claw ring BJØRG
    sphere clutch and all rings BJØRG
    top worn under dress MADE BY STYLIST
    boots NOOID
    right hand
     ring on index finger MARIA NILSDOTTER
    rings on index finger & bracelet with chain PAULA HAGERSKANS
    left hand
    ring on index finger MARIA NILSDOTTER
    ring on middle finger BEDAZZLED
    ring on ring finger BJØRG
    top MADE BY STYLIST
    skin M.A.C studio fix fluid spf 15
    glow DUWOP doubleglow7
    blush NARS orgasm
    mascara LANCôME hypnôse star
    lips VIVA LA DIVA kharma
    nail polish DEBORAH LIPPMANN harem silks from bombay
    eyeshadows EMITE dand CLINIQUE purple pumps 
    &OTHER STORIES moreen blue
    neckpiece BJØRG
    boots BEYOND RETRO
  • image by HÅKAN LARSSON

    Personal heroes and points of reference

    Written by Philip Warkander by Michaela Widergren

    Growing up, I often had the feeling of not fitting in, of not being in the right place. I lived in a plain one-story house but fantasized about magical palaces with hidden doors and secret passages.
    Instead of our small garden, I dreamed that I would one day own a private park, with fountains, peacocks and antique marble statues. Instead of a bicycle, I wished for a white horse, not to take me to school but simply away, somewhere else, anywhere but where I was. Life in my hometown was mundane, and the repetitive boredom of everyday life made me invent alternative realities to which I would escape as often as I could.
    It didn’t take long for others around me to notice that I wasn’t like them, that we didn’t share the same interests or ways of thinking. This distinction was enhanced through differences in dress. At school, the unarticulated but strongly enforced clothing codes were unknown to me and even though I tried I could never fully master these unwritten rules, dictated by my peers. I would wear the wrong jeans or a T-shirt with what apparently was an unfashionable print, or come to school in a jacket of the wrong color, making me a constant target of ridicule.
    Consequently, I began to escape into my fantasy realities more and more frequently. There, no one would question how I looked or talked, or what my interests were. As the years went by, I would start to explore alternative worlds and different ways of being not only through my personal imagination but also through literature, film and art, looking for a place where I would feel safe and at home. I became acquainted with the icons of past times, and one by one, I made them my personal heroes and points of reference. My perspective on the world was seen through a filter composed of people such as Jean Cocteau, Jean Genet, James Dean, Margeurite Duras, Arthur Rimbaud, Simone de Beauvoir and Montgomery Clift. I would read everything by and about them, memorize facts of their lives, cursing the fact that fate had placed me so far from them in space and time.
    As I grew older, I began to mimic the appearances of my idols. I would style my hair like James Dean, hold my cigarette the way I had seen Jean Cocteau do, imitate the speech of Montgomery Clift. These practices made me feel less lonely, giving me a vague and undefined, yet seemingly intimate and personal, connection with my idols. To me, they were larger than life, flawless super-humans representing the possibilities of an adventurous life and glamorous existence, far from my own experiences as a young and bullied schoolboy.

    Today, the memories of this time are distant, blurry images of a life that once was but not longer is. Much time has passed since I finished school and left home, for other cities in other countries. Philosopher Judith Butler once wrote that life is a series of performative acts, and with every new action that takes place we become slightly removed from what used to define our former selves. This is related to what Buddha said about life being a form of suffering; because life is about being in constant motion; we are constantly letting go of our past, pushing ourselves into an uncertain future. Being alive means leaving our old selves behind, turning away from former heroes and icons to create our own path in life. This is a painful process but the only way for us to live life to its fullest.
    Today, I no longer style my hair, wear my clothes or pronounce words based on the practices of people I have never met. Instead, I have become influenced by people with whom I have shared a life, as well as experiences of my own. A former lover’s favorite sweater, left behind one morning, now belongs to me. I wear it often. A perfume a friend once recommended has become part of my daily routine. My neighbor, a hair stylist, cuts my hair. Small things that connect us, and point to how our lives successively, have become intertwined.
    Similar to life in general, also fashion can be defined as a series of performative actions, articulated through its need for continuous change, forcing us to question how we look, act and think. For me, fashion was once a tool; I could use to escape from a place where I didn’t feel I belonged, to experiment with a new way of being by imitating the styles of my idols. However, what was at first a liberating experience soon became confining, as I realized that to rely on icons for inspiration and support is to live life vicariously. I knew I had to decide for myself who I wanted to be, not based on what others thought of me or on what had been done in the past by people I looked up to. I needed to learn to focus on the present moment, and not fantasize about past eras I had never been part of. This way, I could begin to see the magic of my own life, instead of dream of what could have been.
    The process of letting go is not easy but necessary. In order to live in the now we need to be free of past experiences, to create a space for ourselves where we aren’t defined by who we once were. In my life, I have used fashion and clothes as tools to construct that kind of space, and to help me move forward through time. This is not done by citing the icons of my youth, or by trying to fit with someone else’s expectations, but in the style that I have made my own. Its expressions are not constant but forever shifting, as I continually develop as a person. These changes become materialized through the garments I wear, influenced by the people that I meet and who are part of my life.

  • An interview with Sveta Dorosheva

    Written by Michaela Widergren

    Born in Ukraine but living in Israel, Sveta Dorosheva is inspired by the medieval and retains influences from 18th century artist’s like Edmund Dulac and Harry Clarke. Fascinated by the minds of children, Dorosheva creates alternative worlds using ink and paper.

    First, tell me what’s happening in Rehovot, what are you doing today?

    It’s a beautiful sunny morning; I’ve sent all the kids off to school and kindergartens. I am having my morning coffee and procrastinating before starting a new project by answering these questions. Thank you for giving me something better to do than housework to fill in this little break. Usually I work during morning hours till noon, after that the kids return one by one and I work as mom till night time. After they go to bed, I have a second shift of drawing time.

    What projects are you working on at the moment?

    I have several commissions in various stages of development. They are a marvelous diversity: reinterpretation of two Tarot cards; poster for a mystic puppeteer and entertainer; personal campaign for a book store, dedicated to literature and dreams; and a new deck of trick cards. That pretty much contains ‘a few of my favorite things’ - mysterious emblems and alchemy, eccentrics and eccentricities, fable, magic and trickery.

    You were born in Ukraine, how come that you moved to Israel?

    Ah well, that’s complicated :) My parents moved to Israel, when I was 18 and I stayed at home, because I wanted to finish my degree first (official version. The truth - I was in love). I did finish my degree in literature and languages though, and by the way, my thesis was dedicated to fairy tales, which are my passion since childhood. After that I fell out of love and moved to Kiev from my home city. There I worked as an interpreter, journalist, copywriter, designer, art director, and, lastly, as a creative director of a network ad agency. By that time I was married and had a four year-old son.

    Now we’ll make a detour from this exemplary career ascension. As is evident from this bio, I have no academic training in art, which is my life-long grief. I adored drawing when I was a kid, but then school kept me very busy for several years. My next drawing spree was in at the University, because studies were excruciatingly boring. I started to draw at lectures and at home late into the night. I copied artists that I liked, doodled and illustrated a diary.

    When I started to work, I continued to draw in the evenings. By that time I knew I needed ‘my fix’ (If I don’t draw for several days in a row I turn into a wicked witch), but did not dare to treat it as anything but a ‘pleasant hobby’. That came to an end after the birth of my first son. Before that I had work and hobby and they lived cozily together in one life. After that I had work, family and hobby, and there just wasn’t enough room for three large spheres in one life. One had to go. Of course it was drawing, because “it’s not serious”.

    After four years of not drawing, I felt so utterly wrong about everything I did, despite an impeccably successful front, that I quit at the top of my career into ‘nowhere’. I knew I wanted to draw and had no other way than to make it my work, but couldn’t make up my mind, how to go about this whole new endeavor. I even did not know what I wanted to do, let alone how to approach it - draw books? commercial illustration? art in a studio? And then I had to labor through the “I am not a ‘real’ artist” thing. While I couldn’t make up my mind, life made it up for me and I was pregnant with our second son. With that many crucial changes in life, another twist did not matter. We decided to move to Israel to be closer to grandparents (official version. The truth - it is easier to start something new in a completely new environment).

    How is the cultural climate in Israel for artists like you?

    I am not sure. I gave birth to our second son a month after the immigration. At that time we thought we were taking a year’s break to figure things out while I am on a “mom’s leave”, and then would return to Kiev. But you know how life is? It sucks you in here and now. In a wink the senior boy went to school, my husband mastered a new career in web and app design and I was pregnant with a third boy! Moving back was out of the question.

    My point is I am not leaving house much, except for child playgrounds, parks and seaside. I don’t know local art environment. This weekend I have been to Yaffo to hang a small exhibition of my works in a theater, and that impressed me like a world cruise. You know - nicely dressed people with no kids languidly walking the atmospheric ancient streets, strewn with galleries and coffee shops and all…

    A lot of illustrators and artists work digitally today, why do you prefer pen and paper?

    I’ve worked digitally for seven years in advertising. That’s not half as enjoyable as hand drawing, and then I guess to me hand drawing is just easier. I do use Photoshop though, I am not as medieval as it may seem.

    There is a strong influence of folklore and fairytales in your work; do you have a favorite story?

    Oh, oh. Not sure what to answer, because there are so many of them. When my kids ask me to tell a story, they have to answer a dozen questions, before I decide which to tell: funny or scary; witty or mystic; eastern or western; crazy or reasonable; people or beasts; long or short; riddled or plain; gory or peaceful? (I have three boys, so no princesses, yes). So, now I don’t have a favorite story, like a gourmet can’t have one favorite dish, because he is so sophisticated in food, but in childhood I did have favorite tales.

    My dad read to me Russian and Grimm fairy tales a lot and I knew them by heart. We had an unabridged edition for researchers, so luckily these tales were not robbed of their initial richness ‘not to scare kids’. I did not scare a bit, but was enthralled by the murky, fickle world, where everything turned into everything else, beasts talked and threw off skins to turn into people; wicked stepmothers ordered their stepchildren killed in the woods to eat their hearts and spit a golden coin every morning ever after; dead water revived heroes; a forest witch lived in a house of chicken legs and had a flipping bed that tossed incautious travelers into the underworld; tree fairy had her arm cut off to spill gems and rubies from the wound in order to help the hero fulfill the wicked king’s desire; death of an immortal skeletal villain was hidden in a needle, needle - in an egg, egg - in a fish, fish - in a duck, duck - in a hare, hare - in an eagle; eagle - in a chest; chest - on a tree at the end of the world; a dragon had nine fire-spitting heads and a magic finger to grow new heads if some got chopped off; treasures turned to autumn leaves; people returned from a one-day visit to the underwater king to discover hundreds of years had passed in the real world; golden-skinned princesses jumped out of oranges; princesses threw off swan’s feathers, frog skins, snake skins, lizard skins; princesses washed ugly sorcery off their faces with black soap; poisoned pins in the hair turned princesses into birds; wrong moves - into stone… There was even an ancient version of ‘Donkey Skin’, where the stepmother was a wicked witch and turned the girl into… a cow’s stomach. She predicted that “the enchantment will be broken only if the King kisses you, ha-ha-ha”! Indeed. The Cow’s Stomach took the job of a shepherd on royal pastures and stalked the king until one day he was crossing the field during a hunt. Then the Stomach entangled the king in his… eh guts and threatened to strangle him if he doesn’t kiss ‘her’. Well, if there’s a happy end to this story, then you know, nothing in life can ever upset you really much…

    I remember very well, that when as a child, this didn’t seem strange or weird or cruel or unreal. They were just part of a gripping story. I first started to appreciate just how weird that is, when Dad read these same tales to my junior sister (we shared a room). She was 6 and I was 15 and I listened to them once again from a whole new perspective. Her favorite tale was about a princess that got abducted by this ugly immortal villain and her fiancé pursued to rescue her. He gets killed three times, chopped into small pieces. But his brothers revived him with ‘dead’ and ‘live’ water, when they saw that the silver spoons he’d left them blackened and that meant he was in trouble. There was a part where he has to scramble out of a bottomless abyss, and a huge magic bird condescends to carry him on her back. But she warns him to prepare enormous food and water supplies. These end long before the end of the journey out of the gargantuan abyss, but the bird demands more, or else she will fall exhausted back into the abyss. She advises the lad to cut his wrist and give her some blood to drink, and then to cut some meat off his legs and give her that to eat. Well, he does so several times and by the time they are safe and sound on the surface, he is dead. But of course his brothers know this, because of the black spoons and are waiting there with dead and live water. The bird throws up his flesh. Brothers put the pieces back, spill some dead water on them and they grow back into place. Then they spill some live water on the lad and he comes back to life. 

    Now, I am lying there in the dark, while Dad reads this to my sister, shocked and wondering just how weird and disgusting is that, when my sister stops father and says: “read that all over again, starting from the bottom of the abyss”. And that’s the difference between kid and adult perception of fairy tales. Kids don’t attach any characteristics - nothing is ‘terrible’ or ‘wonderful’ to them - it’s all just a part of a fascinating plot. They do not divide things into pleasing and disgusting, real and improbable; they just take everything for granted. Yes, the mushroom turned into a little man. Yes, the cow stomach turned into a beautiful girl. Quite natural.

    I like to illustrate this point with another story. I remember my three-year-old son finding a dead bird in the bushes once in December. He insisted that we go and see its metamorphoses every day. I felt rather ill at ease at certain ugly stages of decay, but he was interested, because he did not KNOW it was ‘disgusting’… To him bird-turning-to-a-skeleton or frog-turning-to-a-prince is the same type of natural metamorphosis that makes the world tick and such an interesting place to observe. There’s no good or bad, there’s just infinite variety and wonder. I am glad I’ve smuggled a tiny measure of that perception into adulthood and I think that is mostly what my drawings are about.

    FROG PRINCESS
    PHRENOLOGY
     
    CHILD
    BOAT
    WHISPERING FAIRIES
     
    LICINIA
     
    POVAR I NEVESTA 210
     
    CREATURE FISH
     
    BLUEBEARD
     

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