photos /Â Isak Berglund Mattsson-MĂ„rn
story / Koko Ntuen
Walking into AMAZE, the  pop-up escapade highlighting the most emerging Swedish fashion, had all the elements of the coolest underground party you could be at. Big warehouse? Check. Beautiful individuals with clipboards taking names at the door? Check. A roomful of the artiest and most fashionable intelligent in Stockholm? Check!
There was electric buzz and action in every corner of the gigantic loft space housed in Delight Studios as people walked around eating ice cream and opening fresh pressed drinks from Blissed juicery and talking in hushed voiced waiting for the next fashion presentation. Aside from the traditional catwalk and the layers of of pretension you might get at a normal fashion show, Amaze was oozing with confidence and artful presentations showing wearable and exciting fashion.
The event was founded by stylist Nicole Walker and artist Cornelia Blom with goal of of having AMAZE create a new more vibrant scene for Swedish fashion and highlight handpick creative voices that were changing the fashion world.
This years showcase showed the A/W 2015 collections of designers: Minna Palmqvist, Velvetesque, Claes Bergman, Mia Larsson, Julia Ragnarsson and Nhorm + SR.
MINNA PALMQVIST is a highly conceptual fashion brand set up in 2009 by Finnish born designer and artist Minna Palmqvist. The start of the brands concept began with a project Intimately Social which centered around,the somewhat complicated clashes between the socially accepted female body and the real fleshy bodies we inhabit.
Velvetesque is an Antwerp based sportswear brand (with swedish ties) focused on swimwear with experimental cuts and prints. The brand is a collaboration between Laura Welker, Michelle Woods, Ehssan Morshed Sefat who all graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerpen. The inspiration for Velvetesque is found in Personal trainers, aerodynamic cars, good food, dance and Miuccia Prada.
Claes Bergman is a sculptural fashion designer from Gothenburg. At AMAZE he showed his new collection where he explored acrylic canvas as material for clothing. In a special process, he soaked the material in order to work with it, resulting in soft sculptural forms that dried to create a hard shell. Bergmans inpsiration comes from the future, science fiction, and astronomy.
Mia Larsson is a jewelry designer with her core in sustainability. Her jewelry is often large, almost brutal but linked to the body. The collection shown at AMAZE explores oyster shells in different ways. In addition to using polished shell, Mia Larsson uses a kind terazzoteknik with oysters mixed with sand. An important symbolic value in relation to sustainability issues.
Julia Ragnarsson is currently getting her Bachelor’s degree in fashion design in BorĂ„s. Julia is inspired by internet and a deep love-hate relationship to the fashion phenomenon. She has a keen interest in stereotypes and different forms of identity-building through platforms online and dressing.
NHORM is a collaboration between Mathilda Nilsson and Hanna Rudebeck. Mathilda studied at Konstfack, Stockholm and Hanna at KADK, Copenhagen. Thier line is an ongoing conversation our individual expressions and thoughts are being progressed in relation to one another, woven together and formed into a new whole. At AMAZE they showed their collection together with jewelry line S.R.
AMAZE will be a recurring platform for fashion in Stockholm showing different designers ahead of the curve. Â http://www.amazesthlm.org/
For more pictures click here.
