ALPHA Talks: Swedish fashion

How is contemporary Swedish fashion linked to its past? Swedish fashion, known as the 'Swedish fashion miracle', has undergone a transformation and Sweden is now a breeding ground for designers and brands that balance design and business acumen with coolness and sustainability. In a country known for affordable and democratic fashion produced by large-scale companies, a new, more exclusive and critical fashion culture has emerged, not least through fashion exhibitions, educational institutions and support programs. How has Swedish fashion evolved in recent years and how does its current form relate to the past?

The conversation is the third in the series ALPHA Talks: Nordic Fashion, Nordic Fashion and is moderated by Ane Lynge-Jorlén, Director of ALPHA. Participants include fashion designer Ann-Sofie Back, artist and stylist Nicole Walker and writer, editor and teacher Maria Ben Saad.

The conversation coincides with the exhibition Go As You Please - Ann-Sofie Back 1998-2018 at Liljevalchs. Tickets for the talk are also valid as admission to other exhibitions at the art gallery on the same day.

ALPHA is a non-profit organization that promotes emerging Nordic fashion designers. Through international collaborations, awards, exhibitions in Nordic museums, films and talks, ALPHA supports fashion designers who demonstrate high levels of originality, creativity, progressiveness, craftsmanship and responsibility. ALPHA believes in the cultural value of fashion and the craftsmanship and critique of its creators.

Ann-Sofie Back

Swedish fashion designer Ann-Sofie Back is known for her disruptive and thought-provoking fashion, often exploring stereotypes of beauty, taste, femininity, social phenomena and status. A graduate of The Central St Martins, Back has shown at both London and Paris Fashion Weeks, sold in stores worldwide and been included in prominent museums and galleries around the world. Back's design archive has been preserved intact since she began designing in 1998 and is now featured in the current exhibition Go As You Please - Ann-Sofie Back 1998-2018 at Liljevalchs.

Maria Ben Saad

Maria Ben Saad is a fashion writer, editor, curator and educator. She has played a crucial role in developing Swedish fashion since the 1990s: as fashion editor of the magazine Bibel, contributing to a film documentary about designer Ann-Sofie Back, the fashion TV series Velvet and the touring exhibition Swedish Fashion - Exploring a New Identity. She currently holds a position as Senior Lecturer in Fashion History, Theory and Context at Beckmans College of Design. Ben Saad recently published the digital anthology Critical Fashion Project: Reflections in Theory and Practice (2020) on fashion design as a space for critical thinking.

Nicole Walker

Nicole Walker is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and stylist, as well as one of the founders of the fashion and art platform AMAZE. Central to Walker's practice is her use of sculpture and montage, it sets the tone of her approach across disciplines - whether it's styling, creating art or curating exhibitions. Through her practice, she bridges fashion and art, transcending traditional boundaries. As a curator, Walker amplifies her vision, creating exhibitions that provoke discourse and challenge normative perceptions in contemporary art and fashion. Recently, she co-curated and co-styled the exhibition Go As You Please - Ann-Sofie Back 1998-2018.

Ane Lynge-Jorlén

Ane Lynge-Jorlén is the director of ALPHA, an organization that empowers emerging Nordic fashion designers. Lynge-Jorlén is the special advisor for fashion talent for Copenhagen Fashion Week. She holds a PhD in Fashion Studies from the University of the Arts London, and has published her research internationally, including Fashion Stylists (Bloomsbury 2020) and Niche Fashion Magazines (Bloomsbury 2017). She has curated several exhibitions on contemporary, experimental fashion both within and beyond the Nordic region, most recently Beyond Bodies at the National Museum in Oslo, Liminal Objects: Contemporary Critical Fashion at Le Bicolore in Paris, Beautiful Repair. Mending in Art and Fashion at Copenhagen Contemporary.

Photos: Mattias Lindbäck, Ann-Sofie Back, photo Anders Edström, Nicole Walker, photo Ola Rindal, Ane Lynge-Jorlén, photo Dennis Morton.