The Cool Project

This season Oslo Fashion Week in association with the historical firm Heimen Husflid, are launching a new project to promote Norwegian traditions focusing on wool. This fresh collaboration is fittingly named The Cool Project, and is to be introduced during the opening of fashion week on Tuesday.

Text: Daniel Bratterud, Photo: Simen Øvergaard

-We are supporting a trend show with pieces that set a new direction for Norwegian design with wool as main material, and we’re also launching a competition where designers are invited to create pieces that reflect the Norwegian spirit, MD of Heimen, Kjersti Hamre, says. -We’re looking for 20 designs that show innovation and a new take on Norwegian cultural heritage. It’s important that we get the old Norwegian clothing traditions out on the international market. The designs that we announce as winners will be produced and made into a collection next spring to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Heimen.

Heimen was founded in 1912 by Aksel Waldemar Johannessen,and his wife Anna and has strong roots in Norwegian tradition, “husflid” and design. A hundred years ago Heimen set the standard for Norwegian costumes, and it was a very up-to-date brand in this field. And that’s what we want to bring back. To be innovative but keep our history in the back of our minds, Hamre explains.

Heimen has grown into a brand with about 40 employees, and has a newly refurbished store situated in Rosenkrantz’ gate. Norwegian wool is of the essence in Heimen’s credo, and Hamre feels it is about time that Norwegian traditional clothes get a face lift: -Norway lacks its own design culture, so Pål Vasbotten and Heimen came up with this idea to promote Norwegian roots. We want to take hold of our cultural heritage in regards to wool and knitwear in a new time. Heimen has a vast amount of old designs and drawings in our basement. We want to use this enormous historical treasure and show what we stand for.

Heimen are also using wool in their summer collections, and want to focus on usability in addition to heritage. Hamre explains that they are looking to find talented and creative spirits and give them an arena on which to sell their products: -We hope and think this has international potential. We want to test things out and get tougher. So it’s still kind of a niche line, but we’re a project in development and we wish to modernize the essential ethnic Norwegian design. We want to take the old into a new time, and we look forward to seeing where it goes.

To find out more about Heimen Husflid, visit Heimen.net.

Oslo Fashion Week, February 2011