Fashion for everyone

Wearing the Camilla Norrback recycled vintage polyester lace gown and waist cincher at D&A.

As soon as New York Fashion Week ends, Market Week begins, with barely any room for a breather. This past week, in addition to showing Triskaidekaphobia at the Ace Hotel, I worked the Designers & Agents tradeshow, representing Swedish eco-luxury line Camilla Norrback in the Scandinavian Focus room. Back in August, I got to see the Camilla Norrback show at Stockholm Fashion Week, so by the end of D&A, I felt like I was an expert on the Spring 2011 collection (go ahead, ask me a question!).

While I love the idea of eco-friendly and green fashion, quite often I find that it veers towards apres-yoga wear or granola mom. Still, environmentalism is gradually embedding itself into our collective consciousness and the way we live our everyday lives, and I believe that eco-fashion is simultaneously evolving. I can think of a good number of eco-designers now who create lines that are just as fashion-forward as their non-green peers, and Camilla Norrback is no exception. All of her clothes are constructed from organic cotton, bamboo, and wool, or recycled vintage polyester, but still have a soft, luxurious hand-feel, and conform with a sense of high design standards.

This season Norrback was inspired by her childhood summers at a country house in Finland, and imagining the lives of the people who lived there at the turn of the century. She incorporated Victorian style puff sleeves, and chose a mostly faded color palette for the collection, to recall past feelings and memories from another time. Many of the pieces from the collection reminded me of updated versions of the costumes worn in the country house scenes in Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander (my favorite Bergman film). However, the piece that I was drawn to the most was the least country-style of all--a full length black lace evening gown made out of recycled vintage polyester lace, which was definitely made for a night out in the city.


The rotating display rack I put together at D&A: the skyberry print dress, a cozy grandpa sweater from the men's collection, and a tee with a picture of the famous country house in Finland.

A picture of the back of the lace dress that I took at Stockholm Fashion Week.

A full length view of the dress. All following photos by Kristian Loveborg, courtesy of Berns Salonger.