Sandra Backlund
By Katharina Photos Calle Stoltz, Denise Grünstein and Thomas Klementsson
Tags artistic, collection, designer, knitwear, sweden
Playful, sculptural, three-dimensional, geometrical, voluminous: these are only a few attributes to describe Sandra Backlund’s designs. Before focussing on fashion design, Sandra studied Art History at Umea University in Sweden, followed by fashion and design studies at Beckmans College of Design. Always having been fascinated by handicraft, she devoted herself to knitwear.
Not being afraid of unusual materials, Sandra used human hair in her so-called “Body, Skin and Hair Collection”. Fallowing the natural shape of human body, the designer creates a white loose-knit dress with a braid in the back part imitating the backbone or using a hairball on the shoulders the observer associates with muscles. Although the use of thick yarns and the loose-knit create voluminous forms, Sandra Backlund’s fashion is always feminine. The accentuation of only certain parts of the body makes it artistic fashion that is wearable.
Lately, Sandra introduced different fabrics into her collection, also creating geometrical and sculptural pieces. The starting point is always, as she says, the material and the techniques. Here she finds her inspiration for shapes and silhouettes. Still, her main focus is on the hand knitted pieces and we would love to see more of it.
If you come around Antwerp till 14th of August, you shouldn’t miss the exhibition “Unravel: Knitwear in Fashion” that shows pieces from the last centuries until present, including Sandra Backlund’s designs.
