Norwegian Wood SS10: Local Contrast

It doesn’t take much to get me excited about new work from Norwegian Wood.  Last season I loved the statement wooden necklaces made from left-over material from another local Montreal designer, transforming the material into something completely unique. This season she does it again. Taking her surroundings and transforming them into something completely unique and true to her own experiences. The new collection pulls from designer, Angie Johnson’s experiences…

“For SS10 I was inspired by a group of local ladies from an old neighbourhood I used to live in.” says Angie, “The area was a little rundown, especially the main business street (where my apartment happened to be, gorgeous apartment, crap area). The street was very grey, rundown, lots of concrete, few trees. But there were these amazing ladies who would get all done up in traditional dress on Sundays to go to church. I was always mesmerized by the bright graphic patterns of the West African wax cloth fabric used to make their outfits, contrasted against the ugly grey background of our area. They were so happy and excited to see all their friends and although I’m not a religious person, I could see that their religion and church was VERY important to them. It immediately would put me in a good mood, and I never forgot that. I saw these fabrics again and again in my local fabric district, and I knew I finally had the perfect reason to use them.”

I find that with designers they often pull inspirations from rather abstract places, either from books, and idea or something far away, it’s rather rare to read releases that divulge that a designer found inspiration from their every day surroundings. Architecture, color palettes, the way people dress in particular neighborhoods (I live near Chinatown, which has very distinctive aesthetic). It would be hard not to be inspired by what you see everyday, it has to be like brainwashing. Anyway, I’m in love with the idea of the colorful textiles worn in the concrete landscape, it’s such a vivid juxtaposition.

You can find this collection at the Norwegian Wood shop on Etsy, Angie says she’ll be releasing the pieces over the next few weeks, the tanks and some of the accessories are already up, so take a peek!

Tagged as: Accessories, angie johnson, Designers, Etsy, Jewelry, montreal, Necklaces, Norwegian Wood, SS10, statement pieces