U
US FOR UFF
Finland’s 11 UFF second-hand clothes shops not only promote
recycling, but they send clothes to Africa, and support development
programmes there and in India. The cherry on top is that there isn’t
a smelly sweater or stained pair of flares in sight – in fact, UFF stores are so
on-trend that they’re a favourite of the thrift store fashionistas on cult blog
Hel-looks: says Alexa, 13, “I support second-hand and recycling… I bought these
trousers at UFF for €1” or Eliel, 27, “I bought my coat at UFF but originally it’s
from Wien and the year 1917.” We approve.
uff.fi
V
IS FOR VIBSKOV
Henrik Vibskov is arguably Copenhagen’s leading fashion
designer, but he also turns his hand to interior design,
drumming for DJ Trentemøller and creating trippy art
installations, such as the recent Neck Plus Ultra exhibition in
Paris’s Galerie des Galeries. He says he only applied to London’s
Central Saint Martins College to show off to a “really hot girl”.
He’s hot property himself now and his much-anticipated shows
–
in which models walk around in swimming goggles or comedy
binocular glasses – have names like the Transparent Tongue
and the Shrink-Wrap Spectacular. If it all sounds a little haute-
edgy for your taste, it’s good to know trendy people wear his
clothes, especially musicians – fromM.I.A. and Björk to the Arctic
Monkeys and Lou Reed.
henrikvibskov.com
X
IS FOR X-RATED
Danish model Freja Beha Erichsen has been by far the hottest Scandinavian model of
the past five years, with her chameleonic looks gracing Pirelli calendars, catwalks and a
dizzying range of campaigns for just about every fashion house you’ve heard of, from H&M
to Gucci, Armani, Calvin Klein, Chloé, Tom Ford and the rest. But she’s also known for her risqué
approach to modelling: we’re thinking of her shoot with
Purple
magazine featuring full-frontal
nudity, numerous tattoos (including a revolver on her left arm), and a passionate kissing scene with
French model Anna Mouglalis in Karl Lagerfeld’s short film
The Tale of a Fairy
,
shot for Chanel.
W
IS FOR WELLIES
As with raincoats, one of Scandinavia’s
great talents is to take functional
items and make them stylish – and
rubber boots epitomise that. In Finland in 1898, an
arm of Nokia started making galoshes and rubber
boots, and you can still get Nokian Footwear today
(
nokianjalkineet.fi). We’re also big fans of Viking
(
vikingfootwear.com), which started with a rubber
factory in Askim, Norway, in 1920. For something
more towards the fashion end, Danish designer Ilse
Jacobsen’s (ilsejacobsen.dk) Hornbæk wellingtons
have become a cult – from her gorgeous feminine
lace-up wellies to equestrian-inspired rubber boots
with a horse insignia.
Freja Beha
with French
model Anna
Mouglalis
Ilse Jacobsen’s
iconic boots
n
/ 0 6 5
