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PRESENTED BY THE NORDIC COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

Gudrun Rógvadóttir: ‘We’re Nordic, and that’s a huge advantage’

Ever heard of Faroese wool? Gudrun Rógvadóttir tells The Local about life on the Faroe Islands, tradition, and how a unique jumper epitomizes the Nordic-but-not nature of this isolated society.

Published: 9 January 2017 12:07 CET
Gudrun Rógvadóttir: 'We're Nordic, and that's a huge advantage'
Photo: Gudrun and Gudrun

There’s not a whole lot from the Faroe Islands – a exotic array of 18 islands adrift in the vast sea separating Norway from Iceland – that has achieved international fame.

But if anything has, it’s a certain wool sweater.

“It was really all just luck. We had no idea that it would get so much attention,” says unlikely Faroese fashion-phenom Gudrun Rógvadóttir of the sweater in question. You know, the one worn by character Sarah Lund on the hit TV show The Killing.

“The styling scout found us at a fair in Denmark, but we forgot all about it afterwards. And suddenly the next summer we were basically tour guides, meeting with The Guardian, The Independent, Times magazine, and more.”

Rógvadóttir and her friend Gudrun Ludvig were at the fair to promote their new company Gudrun and Gudrun, focused on creating fashion from natural Faroese products. But the little sweater that could was just an accident: their work actually began with lamb skins.

“I found it a pity that our natural materials, lamb skins and wools, weren’t valued anymore,” she recalls. “So I called up Gudrun, who’s a designer, and we started sending the lamb skins to tanneries to see if we could really make something out of it.”

But at the duo’s very first fashion fair in 2002, it wasn’t the smooth double-sided lamb skins that garnered attention. It was the jumpers.

“Japanese buyers in particular found our knits very interesting. They’re experts in handicraft so we were proud to grab their eye. So we took that information and ran with it.”

Click here to discover more Nordic stories

But what is it really that’s so special about Gudrun and Gudrun’s Faroese jumpers?

“The whole reason we started our company was to use these natural materials,” Rógvadóttir explains. “Faroese wool is very special, and we have strong traditions of knitting. The Faroe Islands traditions are the very DNA of our company. Without it, there would be no Gudrun and Gudrun.”

Both women hail from the islands, though they have spent years living in Denmark. But while the Faroe Islands are an autonomous part of the Scandinavian country, Rógvadóttir says they have a culture and identity that’s all their own.

“A lot of people in Denmark think it’s basically the same here. But it’s so, so, so different,” Rógvadóttir emphasizes.

Living in such an isolated place – just 49,000 people call the rocky islands home – makes you “a bit different”, she adds. And one place the differences manifest themselves is in Faroese wardrobes, and indeed, the collections at Gudrun and Gudrun.

“We’re not that minimalistic or ‘Nordic’ in that way,” she laughs. “We love colour. Sometimes we think it’d be way easier if we made everything in black, sure. But that’s not us.”

Luckily, designer Gudrun Ludvig is good at balancing the rich colours, patterns, and textures.

“It can be hard to make a vibrant red patterned sweater that’s not chaotic, but we manage. Some might see our deigns as artistic, even naïve. We’re playful.”

But while Faroese jumpers may ooze naiveté, the people themselves, Rógvadóttir says, certainly do not.

“I don’t find people from the Faroe Islands to be closed off or ignorant at all,” she muses.

“It’s quite the opposite. When you come from such a small place you need to know even more about the surrounding world.  We have no illusions of grandeur. We know we have to reach out and learn about the world.”

And reach out they do. Since business expanded thanks to Sarah Lund’s sweater featured so heavily on British TV, Gudrun and Gudrun have had to ratchet up production to keep up with demand. They employ their friends, sisters, and mothers – but also women in Jordan and Peru. And even there, Rógvadóttir prides herself on knowing every single one of them.

“It was a natural next step for us. The style and tradition of knitting in Jordan and Peru is very similar, and we can work on the same principals there, empowering women while taking care of natural resources. It’s what we’ve always wanted.”

It’s one of the benefits of being part of the Nordics – no matter how different the Faroe Islands are.

“We are on the outskirts, and we see people from Stockholm and Copenhagen as being part of something much bigger,” Rógvadóttir confesses. “But of course we do share aspects of a culture. We’re the same type of people.”

The Nordic nations have a reputation for cleanliness, equality, and sustainability.

“Trust is a key word people associate with the Nordics,” she says. “When we tell people our jumpers are ethically produced, they don’t doubt it. We’re Nordic. And that’s a huge advantage.”

Read more Tales from the Top of the World

This article was produced by The Local Client Studio and sponsored by the Nordic Council of Ministers.


Photos: Gudrun & Gudrun

 

 

FASHION

Paris exhibition celebrates 100 years of French Vogue

A new exhibition in Paris will tell the story of 100 years of French Vogue - from the post-war 'New Look' of Christian Dior through the sexual liberation of the 1960s to the dangling-cigarette waifs of the 2000s.

Published: 7 October 2021 08:21 CEST
French Vogue celebrates 100 years
French Vogue celebrates 100 years. Photo: Thomas Olva/AFP

But as well as celebrating the magazine’s storied history, the exhibit comes at a time of turbulence for the publication.

Just last month, it was confirmed that its editor of 10 years, Emmanuelle Alt, was out and wouldn’t be replaced.

She was not alone.

Looking to cut costs, owner Conde Nast International has axed editors across Europe over the past year, and put international Vogue editions under the direct control of global editorial director, Anna Wintour, in New York.

New York-based Anna Wintour now has overall control of French Vogue. Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

Like much of the media industry, Vogue is struggling with tumbling sales and ad revenue in the digital era.

But the latest twist is also part of the endless push and pull between New York and Paris going back to its early days.

“The whole history of French Vogue is one of back-and-forth with Conde Nast in New York – growing more independent for a while, then being reined back in,” said Sylvie Lecallier, curator of the new exhibition, “Vogue Paris 1920-2020″, which opened this weekend after a year’s delay due to the pandemic.

The Paris edition was often the loftier, more bohemian sibling to its more hard-nosed New York version.

But it was also the hotbed in which much of 20th century style and womenhood came to be defined.

“Paris was the place to hunt out talent and content and bring it to New York,” said Lecallier.

The exhibition charts the evolution from art deco drawings of the 1920s through the erotic image-making of photographers like Helmut Newton in the 1960s and 1970s.

Its last peak was under editor Carine Roitfeld in the 2000s, who brought back a provocative Gallic identity by ridding the newsroom of foreign staff and becoming a fashion icon in her own right.

Her successor, Alt, was a quieter presence, though she still oversaw key moments including its first transgender cover star, Brazilian Valentina Sampaio, in 2017.

But internet culture has created “a perfect storm” for Vogue, says media expert Douglas McCabe of Enders Analysis.

“The first 80 years of Vogue’s life, it had the market to itself, it was the bible for fashion,” McCabe told AFP.

“But online today, there are so many other ways to get your information. Influencers, Instagram, YouTube — everyone’s a threat.”

In a world where new fashion trends can blow up around the world in seconds, it has become much harder for a monthly magazine to set the pace.

“It’s not that they can’t survive for another 100 years — but they will be differently sized,” McCabe said.

Vogue has tried to branch out into different areas, including events.

“I used to work for a magazine, and today I work for a brand,” Alt said on the eve of French Vogue’s 1,000th issue in 2019.

But the big money was always in print, and Vogue Paris sales are dropping steadily from 98,345 in 2017 to 81,962 to 2020, according to data site ACPM.

It is perhaps unsurprising that the new top job in Paris, redefined as “head of editorial content”, went to Eugenie Trochu, who was key to building the magazine’s online presence.

She declared herself “thrilled to be part of Vogue’s international transformation”.

For the curator of the exhibition, it is ironic timing.

“We had no idea it would end like this when we started work on the exhibition,” said Lecallier.

“Who knows where it will go from here.”

The exhibition Vogue Paris 1920-2020 is at the Palais Galliera in Paris’ 16th arrondissement. The gallery is open 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Sunday and is closed on Mondays. Tickets for the exhibition are €14 (€12 for concessions and under 18s go free) and must be reserved online in advance. 

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