“I would describe my style as Sámi street fashion. I’m very interested in sneakers and love to mix my Sámi heritage with sport- and comfortable shoes.”

What’s your relationship with clothes?

I grew up in an indigenous Sámi family where handicraft and art is a central part of both the festivity clothing and everyday life. My relationship with clothes therefore comes from a sense of fair work and couture since the clothes we made are for a specific person with a specific purpose. You don’t make any clothes until that person really needs it. The origin is to use materials from nature or materials that can be reused or remade from other items we don’t use anymore. Zero waste is a central part of my upbringing. Today conventional clothes are made without having a costumer. This is a huge difference, not only the fact that they are made having no costumer but neither are they handmade. In our culture they are handmade for you! There’s a story behind it. It’s a very personal thing.

When you spend a lot of time outdoor, you need clothes that are adaptive to the arctic climate, sometimes conventional clothes are not suitable so you have to make them yourself! Reindeer fur is good material for the arctic climate.

How would you describe your style?

I would describe it as Sámi street fashion. I’m very interested in sneakers and love to mix my Sámi heritage with sport- and comfortable shoes.. preferable retro clothing added with Sámi accessories, like silver jewelleries and hand woven items.

“Zero waste is a central part of my upbringing.”

How would you describe your closet?

Luckily, I have an apartment with a walk in closet. Not a fancy one, but still a room just for my clothes. For me it is very organised, everything is in there. A lot of sportswear, but also my traditional regalias! The most important thing is a huge freezer where I keep the natural materials, so the silver and other natural materials are kept cold. You should keep fur and leather in a freezing place, it lasts longer. I also keep silk and wool in the freezer place protect them from bugs and worms etc. I also buy most of my clothes from second hand so I keep them in the freezer to make sure I don’t get bugs or things like that.

“The most important thing (in my closet) is a huge freezer where I keep the natural materials, so the silver and other natural materials are kept cold. You should keep fur and leather in a freezing place, it lasts longer.”

What is a sustainable closet for you?

I’m not well educated on sustainable fashion, but common sense tells me that there’s a lot of people and their families behind the clothes sold in our society. It is actual person who has made the things we find in the fashion stores. The industry can be very dirty and we have to respect people’s lives, effort and work. It can even be blood behind those items. I need to pay respect to each piece of clothes.

It’s the same thing with food, someone actually produced it, we need to respect the effort which was out into the farming, hunting, plocking and baking. I believe we as a society has come so far away from the actual production. You never see or meet the person who made the clothes. I think we need to come to a point where we know more about the products we buy. This item actually has a value, a way larger value than the price tag. You can’t measure everything in money.

To a summarise my perspective on sustainable fashion: it’s about respect.

“I believe we as a society has come so far away from the actual production. You never see or meet the person who made the clothes. I think we need to come to a point where we know more about the products we buy.”

What do you think about the fashion industry?

I think fashion is a way to show who you are. It’s about freedom of expression and comfort, but also about history and heritage. Here in Sápmi we have eight seasons and we dress accordingly, due to weather and winds. Even though, it does not add up to get brand new clothes for every season. That would be stressful for both people and planet. We need to follow the seasons but with less changes. It’s about stop wasting the clothing from last year and find a new way to wear the clothing again. We need to find better circular ways for each piece and view them as what they truly are – pieces of art. You don’t waste art, right?

I love fashion but there’s a gap between fashion and everyday life of real people in real forests. I just read on the news that H&M are investing billions in new factories producing clothes from wood in order to meet the climate crisis. The area I come from in the boreal forests is as threatened as the rainforests in Amazon. Clear-cutting is the devastating knife that will end life up here for good. Both for my people, the Sámi, and for reindeer. All species including the human being depend on healthy eco systems. Since plastic and fossil fues are being banned, industries now green wash their production by changing their material to wood. Paper bags instead of plastic ones. Pine oil instead of palm oil. Bio energy instead of gass. From where does all this wood come from? From real forests up here that are the last ones on earth. As fashionistas we need to open up our eyes, question the fashion industries’ attempts to be sustainable and demand better solutions.

“We need to find better circular ways for each piece and view them as what they truly are – pieces of art.”

What do you believe needs to change?

Most of us live closer to the fashion stores than to real forests. You don’t have to be scientist to realize that this separation the urban area has developed to real nature does something to human behaviour. How to respect something you never see? Remember though, that this is not how things have been historically. The mad consumption ruling today is sprung from cruel colonization of entire continents where human rights did not, and still not, include all humans. In a time view of 10 000 years, from an indigenous perspective, this way of living measure up only a short period of time. It is possible turn this heavy wheel around. The system needs to be more respectful towards our surroundings where the products come from. We need to remove this shadow and barrier which hides the truth behind the clothing industry. Every person has a responsibility. One person can’t change the whole world but everyone has a responsibility to try. An actual change is possible, not only for some but for the whole humanity.

We can’t just blame the politicians. Everyone can be the change we seek, if we dare to meet our consciousness in the mirror when we try out our closet.

“One person can’t change the whole world but everyone has a responsibility to try. An actual change is possible, not only for some but for the whole humanity.”

What can one do that seeks to create a more sustainable closet?

· Don’t see buying new as an option at all. That is a quick fix.

· Mend your clothes. Look after them and look for long-term solutions. Fix them when they’re broken.

· Be creative! Since I’m a songwriter I know how creativity can blossom when you have limits. Like when I have to write a song or make a music video. If the limit is my budget, a certain amount of time or specific soundscape, this can be the creative frame, like “these are my tools for now, it must be ballad, 4 min long tops and done by next week – what can I make out of these three things?” . This is equally true for fashion. Limit your consumption, you can reactive and remix your clothes in different ways. You can remake them, you can use your mother’s old accessories. It’s a way to open up your creativity. It is about using limits but not be limited by them. It’s a wonderful way to spear the resources for your surroundings and awaken the creativity within you. We need to have more time to be creative to find these kind of solutions. I tell you, it is a lot of fun. I made the music video “Snölejoninna (Snow Lioness)” this way. I had four days, zero budget and no editor. So I had to learn filming myself, come up with a one take idea since I had no skills in editing and no budget to hire someone. These were my limits. I ended up making a fashion video “How to put up a Sámi regalia in 3.30 min”. The video became YouTube hit that weekend and still is one of my most played songs.

You can watch the video to “Snölejoninna” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGc7c8U2aps

Sofia on Instagram @sofiajannok

Her new album “LÁVV U” is out 19th March.

INTERVIEW #42 SOFIA JANNOK

INTERVIEW #43 DAN PONTARLIER

INTERVIEW #41 ANNIKA SUNDIN