Kui igapäevaselt kuuleme me pigem kiidulaulu Eesti disaini kohta, siis minu südame on võitnud ka paljud Läti moebrändid, kes suudavad oma outside the box mõtlemisega luua tõeliselt ägedaid asju. Üks selline on bränd One Wolf eesotsas disainer Agnese Narnickaga. Loe ingliskeelset intervjuud disaineri endaga.
One Wolf Fall/Winter ’17 collection shown at Riga Fashion Week was stunning! What inspired you?
“Lander” – a spacecraft that descends downward and comes to rest on the surface of an astronomical body. The Fall/Winter 2017 collection is a story about a man named Lander, who has landed on Planet Earth.
The collection reflects people’s longing for Earth – for home. It is inspired by real space missions, during which astronauts have had to spend over a year away from their homes and families. When asked, what they missed the most during their long missions, the astronauts replied, “Family, friends, fresh air, gravitation, fresh fruit, vegetables and swimming in clear water”.
The association with travelling far off into space has been chosen to reveal two poles: on the one hand, people’s ambitions and dreams of achievement and discovery, and on the other the primal longing for familiar, everyday things. On Earth, other planets seem to us as completely out of reach, but when we are far off in space, the most ordinary earthly things such as gravitation and water become precious.
These contrasts are reflected in the collection through the choice of materials, colours and textures. There are references to both astronaut clothing and apparel worn every day here on Earth. Many details, fittings, embroidery, various types of cotton, as well as innovative fabrics and clever, constructive pattern solutions dominate the collection.
How is it different from the previous collections?
This collection is more colourful than the previous ones, which were dominated by black and gray – One Wolf customers’ favourites. The Lander collection is dominated by the colour blue and several earth tones – beige, brown and khaki. Pearl gloss is also used as a collection accent. The Lander collection is also characterized by large embroidery and many different details – strings, studs, carabiners, belts, brief pockets of different sizes on jackets, sweaters and shirts.
Tell me a bit more about One Wolf. How and why was the brand born?
I had just completed studies at The Art Academy of Latvia and had taken part of Riga Fashion Week for several times already, and also international competitions as Agnese Narnicka. There came a moment in 2010 when the brand needed a more powerful image, a concept, and clear goals. Upon trying to formulate my design, target audience, future plans, and the overall mood and philosophy of the brand, we came up with One Wolf.
It all started with the NUMBERS collection, the first 3 jeans models, 2 T-shirt models, and 1 sweater model. Two of the jeans models are still our most popular and most sold jeans. Prior to beginning manufacturing, One Wolf created comparatively large collections. However, we only developed a small selection of products for manufacturing, so that we could gradually grow.
Much thought went into the One Wolf name, we looked for a name that would be able to characterise our identity. We wanted to create a symbol that deeply and broadly communicates my convictions. It clearly demonstrates the unisex idea, courage, adventurousness, independence, freedom of thought, and friendship. The wolf is untameable, a symbol of intelligence and courage. He does not succumb to training and, even while living in a wolf pack, remains as his true self. The name One Wolf completely expresses the character of the brand and is in line with my nature. I also highly value people’s commitment to their principles.
“”One” successfully explains that it is the human being that means the most to us, not sexuality or gender.”
Yes, also in the unisex concept, “One” successfully explains that it is the human being that means the most to us, not sexuality or gender. Freedom of choice and not succumbing to the society’s stereotypes.
One Wolf has always strived to surprise not only with pleasurable and functional design, but also the content of each collection. It is important for us to create stories. We could devote a short film to each collection. For the time being, we devote a T-shirt to each collection, which remains as a product that is available during next seasons. But our unique character, if assessing the brand in general, is definitely simplicity in unisex clothing, functionality, and cleverness, not only in the details but also in sewing patterns. We enjoy practical and deliberate non-perfectionism, which is never completely constraining but inspires one to create their own lifestyle.
How has the brand changed in time and what has it taught to you as a designer?
The brand has clearly become more democratic when it comes to design variety. We now pay more attention not only to the idea, message and brand direction of the collection — unisex — but the client itself as well as the practical characteristics of clothing. We work to improve clothing quality, construction, choice of materials and long-term wearability. The style and quality of clothing must be suitable for more than one or two seasons. In our opinion our style has also become more “urban” and rough, without losing clever detail and unusual quirks in construction.
What are your plans for the future?
Our next important plans are a fashion show during Helsinki Fashion Week and various pop-up events in the Baltic States. We have become much more active in both our neighbouring countries, Estonia and Lithuania, where we feel loved and welcome. The biggest plans concern the improvement of our specialised jeans workshop – we want to improve our skills and fulfill various experimental and extraordinary ideas, as well as further improve the quality of our products. Of course, just like any fashion brand, we want to further develop the export area and expand our sales here in Latvia.
Fotod: Janis Shne ja Martins Cirulis