Woolume II

SoS, or Sigga Fanney and Sól Hansdóttir, are two young women working together on textile and fashion design after their paths met through the almighty internet, or to be more precise, through instagram. Seems to be the way to meet people nowadays I’ve found out through recent interviews. To be fair, I’ve met some of my closest friends through instagram, too. Sigga Fanney has a background from fashion and recently completed a bachelor in advanced textile handicraft in Stockholm. Born and raised in Reykjavik, she grew up around magical scenery and folklore that has impacted her core style, ethics and visions. In her work she likes to invite people into a universe beyond the everyday life. Where bold colours, humour and playfulness are the ruling elements. A spectrum between dreams and reality, freed from time and space. Sól Hansdóttir is a multi disciplinary Icelandic fashion designer just graduating from the MA fashion course at Central Saint Martins where she was granted the L’Oréal Creative Awards for her graduation collection as well as being a L‘Oréal scholar. Sóls work has recently gained a lot of praise and attention amongst the fashion scene in Europe, and her graduation collection has been featured on platforms such as Dazed, 1Granary, Vogue, The Face and many more.

I wanted to ask the girls a bit more about their project, how they met and how Woolume came into fruitition. Sól explains to us that they met “in a very modern way; through Instagram. Sigga saw my BA collection online and started following me and I saw her textile work and followed back, it was like a modern age love story! I was in the midst doing my MA in Central Saint Martin in London and wanted a fun hands on project to do over the summer. Sigga had been working on developing the textile Röggvarfeldur for her graduation project from Handarbetets Vänner in Stockholm and I saw it and just thought; We HAVE to do something more with this amazing textile so I contacted her with the idea of applying for a project funding from The Icelandic Research Centre (IRC) and she was very excited about it. We were both very frustrated with the toxic and unethical production of fur and faux fur we decided to join forces. From Paris to London we applied for the funding of this passion project; Woolume ll. We received the funding summer 2020 from the IRC and met for the first time in person in Reykjavík Iceland to work on the project”.

The project is supported by Rannís and you will be exhibiting it at Hönnunarmars in Reykjavík, Iceland. Tell us a bit more about the collection and this project with Rannís and Hönnunarmars?

Their project has been supported by Rannís, an institution which supports research and innovation within many fields in Iceland and within Europe. Sigga tells us that “the collection Woolume II, a play on the expression volume 2, is a renewed, ethical and sustainable alternative option to fur, faux fur and leather, plastic leather. The aim was to develop the production methods and treatments of Icelandic wool in the quest to expand its usage and push for a more contemporary aesthetic fitting a more fashion based market. An interplay between handcraft with inspiration drawn from Icelandic pop culture; the pioneering women of the nation like Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Iceland’s former president and first democratically elected female president in the world in 1980, the energy and boldness of the girl band Grýlurnar along with the pulse of the punk movement. This era in Iceland symbolizes creativity and inventiveness, where global trends arrived years later to this beautiful, raw, isolated island and resources were scarce. Since globalisation this flicker has diminished and we felt our goals with the project fitted well with this period, as we were as well experiencing isolation due to the pandemic”.

I go on to ask Sigga about how her and Sól came to collaborate on Sóls MAFCSM graduate collection. Whether that collaboration came prior to Woolume or after. Sigga says “the collaboration for Sóls graduate collection came as a natural aftermath of Woolume II. It was really amazing to see our synergy as coworkers and friends during that project, something that I feel very grateful for as it’s not a given when you sign up for a three months independent project with someone you haven’t met! It was funny getting directly to work at the same time as getting to know each other. Sóls graduation collection gave us a chance to experiment further with all the techniques for her hand woven pieces, since it was a continuation of many of the same bases as in Woolume II, and for what is to come for SoS!”

I then go onto Sóls recent amazing press coverage after her MA graduate collection was released. I wonder, what must it be like to get this sort of coverage after all your hard work, especially during the pandemic, where everything relies on online exposure. Sól tells me that “it was absolutely flattering to be honest, I was not expecting it or assuming I would get such a massive recognition. Likewise with the Award, L’Oréal Creative Award which is given to the strongest collection every year, I didn’t dare to hope for it even! I just feel truly grateful and very peculiar at the same time. I guess it is the best thing you can hope for after graduating from this prestigious and intense course, all the hard work is paying off”.

We then speak a bit more about the technical side of working with such materials like fresh wool. Sigga tells me that they “transformed 11 kg raw and freshly sheared wool from scratch, acquired from Sól’s family farm. All the wool fibers were separated, washed, combed, dyed, and finally the wool was either hand- woven or felted. An intimately hands-on process! The fur effect is based on a 1000 year old weaving technique from the Vikings in Iceland called Röggvarfeldur. It’s only recently that Röggvarfeldur began to resurface after all this time and thankfully so, seeing as it’s a hugely resourceful and creative way to imitate real fur while using natural fibers and that’s what sparked my intrigue into researching this originally. We had the luck to be sponsored with yarn by Ístex used for the foundation of the weave. For the leather/pleather imitation we felted the inner wool and then coated it to create a solid, textured surface, as can be seen on our handbag and skirt. There’s a saying that the icelandic wool is itchy, but we discovered along this journey that by separating the inner and outer coat of the wool, it can actually be super soft! Although there are no machines to do so yet so it’s only possible manually. I cross my fingers that some genius will come up with an innovation to make that happen one day”.

After speaking about the technical side I wonder if there is a place within todays fashion landscape for the Icelandic wool. Sól thinks “absolutely! We completely believe in it having a very important story and purpose within today's fashion landscape. Not only are people asking for more environmentally produced products but also more ethical products and this answers both! Likewise people want more special garments so I think going back to craft and slow production is the future, for creatives, wearers, workers within the industry and our planet. The days of knitted sweaters and crocheted shawls will unlikely fade away, and thank god they have their function and practicality, however we want to offer an alternative both aesthetically but as well stretching this magic fiber's purpose. Gone are the days of viewing synthetic materials as the solution, for here we are, proposing a golden middle way through wool. It’s about time!”

Sigga then goes on to say that “wool is honestly a gift to mankind. It’s naturally a byproduct seeing as it’s carriers need to be sheared for healthy maintenance and not doing so would be harmful. The qualities of wool are endless; water repellant, antimicrobial, fire resistant, breathable, hypoallergenic, insulating, resilient and easily recyclable. What more do you need? I would like to see wool used more creatively than destined to become knitted sweaters and accessories. It’s a material that is so collaborative to work with, you can almost sculpt it, and I’d love to see it getting pushed further in it’s vast potential. Wool is cool!”

Lastly we talk about what it’s been like working on a collaborative project like this during the pandemic. Sól says “I think it was the best thing you can do in a situation like this and honestly I feel very privileged that we were able to work on an intense passion project like this during the pandemic. Unfortunately not everyone was able to have that experience throughout these difficult times. We were based in Reykjavík together for the first part of the project and the second part we worked together in a small town in southwest of France called Contis. That’s where we produced the collection due to Sigga having her loom set up there! That was a magical journey. However now we are working from two different cities; Reykjavík and Paris and the collaboration for my masters project was done via Zoom. Again I just feel that it is amazing that we were able to do it that way, we needed to be super clear, quick and organized and it worked out really well but I don’t think we could have done it without having the experience we had working together in Reykjavík and Contis first. We needed that time together to understand each other's way of working and creative processes but I think we are a great team and now great friends. There is nothing more beautiful than getting in a room with another creative person and creating together, what more can we ask for?”