INTERVIEW #26 ANNA LIDSTRÖM

Anna’s style will truly inspire you to start exploring your own style and expression. If you look at her Instagram there’s plenty of outfits with colours and patterns that truly makes you want to buy only second hand. Her style is beyond fashion magazines and fast fashion. It is creative and enjoyable. In this interview she tells us about her relationship with clothes and her experience working with fashion from a remake perspective. She also tells us her best advice for having a sustainable closet!

Occupation:

PhD design student/Creative Director Re:textile

What’s your relationship with clothes?

Funny, easy-going and not so serious. I have a lot of clothes, it’s my medium. You can compare it with a chef who loves cooking, you need ingredients. Clothes are my ingredients. But most of my clothes are not new, people donate clothes to me since they know I’m a designer. Clothes is my way to express myself, it’s my life. It’s always present. I can’t help noticing what people wear, I always have those glasses on me. I can remember codes for colours, patterns but totally forget things I should remember. 

How would you describe your style?

“The details are like the spices in the salad, you want some roosted nuts and so on so it tastes better. ”

My style variates. It’s very colourful, a lot of patterns and I mix all kinds of colours and patterns with each other. I like clothes I can variate and therefore are a little bit over-sized. I hate the idea of a perfect top or perfect jeans. There’s nothing there I can work with to create my own version of. I like clothes I can change, I fold or do something else with it that changes how it falls on my body. I like scarfs for example but jeans are not for me. 

Except colours and patterns I like details such as earrings. The details are like the spices in the salad, you want some roosted nuts and so on so it tastes better.  

My closet is a mix of everything, sweet, bitter and salty!

How would you describe your closet?

It’s narrow, scattered and not in order. I always have to search in my closet to find what I’m looking for. I try to put away the things I’m not using to simplify my decision making but they seem to find a way back to my closet. And suddenlymy closet is over-loaded again. The light is not that good either.. I don’t have a walk-in-closet despite the fact that I love clothes. An IKEA-system would be difficult since I don’t have clothes according to its system, jeans, T-shirt and so one. If I would have a walk-in-closet it has to be specially built for my clothes. 

I can almost feel a little bit sad over not giving my clothes the space they deserve. 

I have plenty of jackets, tops, dresses but not many pants. Pants it’s not a good looking clothing item. I only have a few of them and sportswear of course. Most of my clothes are second handed. I see it as a sport to find unique things at second hand. As a stylist I know how to make a regular item of clothing into something stylish that you might not see in the first place. Many of my clothes are also saved for my children, they love clothes too. 

What is a sustainable closet for you?

“It’s important to like your own closet. I’m not a minimalist like some would equalize with sustainability and I don’t think you can say what’s better or worse. It’s difficult to advice people what to invest in, it doesn’t matter if you truly don’t love that item.”

It’s a closet you use and have fun with. I don’t buy that many new clothes since I think they’re boring. Second hand and remake is more interesting. A sustainable closet is also a closet with clothes you use. I have too many clothes for that, but I love them too much to give them away. 

But I would go back to having fun! Wear them in a funny way and make sure you can use several variations of outfits with the clothes you have. 

It’s important to like your own closet. I’m not a minimalist like some would equalize with sustainability and I don’t think you can say what’s better or worse. It’s difficult to advice people what to invest in, it doesn’t matter if you truly don’t love that item.  

If you want to buy something, make sure you love it! Sometimes we are afraid of not following trends or be like others and this fear makes us consume more than necessary. When we are unsure we follow trends and we forget who we are and what we like. A sustainable closet is more about finding your own style. 

What do you think about the fashion industry? 

Have you heard about the anti-fashion manifesto by Li Edelkoort? It’s about society being looked at from what people wear. Today the fashion industry is in the hands of the companies and marketing. The fashion schools teach students to become designer for the big traditional fashion brands while the consumers have got used to fast fashion. This kills the old traditional fashion. The industry has lost its soul somehow and is more or less only old-fashioned today. To create clothes and to do clothing businesses are two different things. Fast fashion has more or less killed the creative part since an algorithm can make a prediction of what to produce and sell instead of it being a creative process that takes time. Fast fashion copies the high-end fashion before the original design have even reached the stores. I wish there was a World Economic Forum for fashion, a platform where to slow down the process and maybe take the production back to Europe.  It’s all out of control, China closed its borders and the production-line is cut. 

We can produce things more locally, let it be more transparent and maybe we would value the clothes more. We could also start designing clothes based on creativity, but we need better conditions for that. Now we produce clothes no one wants. We can produce something more wanted, in a smaller quantity for a higher price. 

“To create clothes and to do clothing businesses are two different things. Fast fashion has more or less killed the creative part.”

What do you believe needs to change?

We need a more regulated industry, it has to be more beneficial to have a more sustainable business model. I mean, ROT (deduction for labour costs such as repairs etc.) might have created more jobs but it’s also contributed to more renovations and people getting new kitchens. Maybe it instead should be something that encourages us to repair our belongings? 

“It’s also about company structures, who decides what and who sets the agenda?”

It’s also about company structures, who decides what and who sets the agenda? It seems like it’s the marketing team who are in control while the people working on the creative side are told what to do. It’s clear from my experience with remake that the marketing team has the control. We need to be better to build bridges and reduce those gaps so we understand each other and can work as a team. Because what has been sold is not a recipe for that’s going to sell. 

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

·     Un-subscribe for all news-letters from all fashion-chains! There’s a risk you klick on the offers and buy things you don’t need.

·     Make a digital vision board, a folder or something else you can look at and be inspired by. It’s a good reference of what you like and what you don’t like. That’s also a good way to focus on the fun part instead of everything negative. 

·     Read, study and educate yourself about materials and companies. Find knowledge in a format you like, maybe as a podcast or a blog. You can focus on the tech part, plastic or something else. Find your tribe and what you enjoy learning about! Otherwise you easily get bored and loose interest. 

·     Use the clothes you alredy have. Try your clothes and don’t take it too seriously. Mix clothes that might not look good together in the first place, I call it “fulmatcha”. Try and see what happens! 

·     Enjoy others clothes, borrow from each other! Try to share your belongings with others. It makes one happy to see your clothes looking good at your friends.  

“Make a digital vision board, a folder or something else you can look at and be inspired by.”