I worked as a designer at Hallmark Cards during a charmed time, when the company was the social expression leader of the world, the country’s economy was flush, Hallmark was at the top of their game, and the company spared no expense to extract the best out of their broad artistic staff, searching the world for design ideas to keep their products ahead of the trends. This honed me towards an attention to design in many forms, and seeking out the latest vogue.
As I travel, I instinctively note design trends in other cultures. Scandinavia has a singular, minimalistic, spare vision of design, like the Japanese, but with culturally different interpretations. In Scandinavia, their design theory permeates everything with a mantra of ergonomics, functionality, sustainability, simplicity, and clean, organic minimalism. The Scandinavian term that encompasses this philosophy is known as “brukskunst” or “useful art”, and I am a sucker for it. It is humanism and essentialism in beautiful, useful objects that can enhance life, from industrial design to architecture, fashion to jewelry and art, and the logical, functional-thinking, emotional, aesthetic feeling it incorporates.
The Scandinavian people have an innate sense of good design, and seem natural, comfortable, uncontrived in their personal style. In Copenhagen, for instance, I found it impossible to ignore the modern, chic and effortless fashion “brukskunst” of the Danes. And, could it be that white kicks, the longtime bane of the “American Tourist” are now validated in the rest of the world? The once-shunned, spotless white sneakers were all the rage on the stylish streets of Copenhagen, on young men in dark skinny suits, and women with shorts, casual dresses and slim jeans.
One of Scandinavia’s best-kept fashion secrets, from the other side of the pond, is the apparel company COS, acronym for Collection of Style, the grown-up sister to Sweden’s behemoth retailer H&R. Launched in 2007, savvy shoppers used to have to go to Europe to shop at COS until it arrived stateside in 2013. Self-proclaimed as “modern, functional, considered design for women and men”, COS has mid-market affordable, graphic, architectural, couture-inspired fashion that is current, but timeless, unlike H&M and even Zara, which tends to be more on-trend.
Our hotel concierge was eager to tell us about the recent opening of the nearby new downtown branch of ILLUM, the Copenhagen-based, well-designed and well-stocked department store, founded in 1891. Filled with the latest trends in interior design, decoration, fashion and beauty, with a nod toward the Danish aesthetic, ILLUM is the Harrod’s of Copenhagen with a great selection of Scandinavian brands.
Modern furniture, functional housewares, simple decorative arts, and industrial design have been at the forefront of the Scandinavian sensibility. It is a way of life here with lean, multi-tasking furniture, and thoughtful, purposeful ornamentation. And, in modern Scandinavian architecture, nothing is superfluous, unnecessary or useless, with a contemporary mind towards sustainability and ecology. Of course, the budget-conscious Ikea has left its giant Swedish thumbprint on the whole world, but think Dansk, Bang & Olufsen, Orrefors and Ittala, the bold prints and colors of Marimekko, the iconic furniture designs of Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen, just to name a few.
In art school I yearned to create good, clean design that could add a sense of order and harmony to the world, and give universal accessibility to things of simple beauty in everyday life. Turns out Scandinavia has been doing just that, and it is utopia for my soul.
Fun read Kristy! Thanks