Enchanted with Ekroth...

If someone said to me that a collection featured camo, florals and headscarves you can bet 200% that I am going to check it out right away, regardless of who the designer is.

The designer in question is Rolf Ekroth and the collection his SS24 one just shown at Copenhagen Fashion Week.

I confess that I had never heard of Rolf.

He is a Finnish-Swedish designer who graduated from Helsinki's Aalto University in 2015, was a finalist at the Hyères Festival, and won the Designers' Nest competition. He relaunched his namesake label independently in 2020 during the pandemic.

It’s a sustainable fashion brand that creates gender neutral clothing designed to fit various body types, promoting inclusivity while reducing waste. The brand prioritizes using sustainable materials, with 80% sourced from deadstock or recycled sources like recycled bottles. All garments are made in Finland and the Baltic countries, where ethical working conditions and fair pay are ensured.

For Spring Summer 2024, Rolf Ekroth embarks on an introspective journey guided by the notion of ‘missing.’ Inspired by the myriad interpretations of the word, he employs meticulously draped ankle-grazing aprons, oversized silhouettes and delicately hand-painted patterns

to both connect to his cultural heritage and capture an ever-present nostalgia that echoes through generations.

The collection converges at the crossroads of Ekroth’s own longing for the 1990s of his pastel- coloured youth, his parents’ memories of the delicate 1960s, and his grandparents’ yearning for a bygone yet persistently present past. Ekroth’s vision balances lighthearted irony with heartfelt empathy, all viewed through a lens tinted with rose-coloured hues.

Ekroth pays tribute to the hardworking countryside people of past generations through the elongated silhouettes of utilitarian aprons and workwear dresses. Notably, he reimagines his friendship bracelets as miniature alpha-woven pendants that adorn the garments, hung in respect for traditional Nordic handicrafts. In totality, the collection becomes an imagined series of nostalgic moments — not tediously realistic nor foolishly romantic either. I adore these. I’m thinking that any of my many parkas and coats would instantly look better with some of these pinned to my front.

Some of the young male models have that slightly lurchy walk of youth but many of them have absolutely wonderful posture. Its such a strange thing but the older I get I really notice stance, posture and walking style. It’s one of the many reasons I stared tai chi again, to try and make sure that I don’t start to walk like a stiff old person

Queen Marie

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