We are more than proud to present the 10 finalists of Lichting 2022. Before their debut to the public on the 2nd of September, AFW sat down with each participant to talk about their collection and their plans for the upcoming Lichting show. This week we would like to introduce you to KABK graduate Signe Munch Grønlund!
How did the concept behind your graduation collection come to being?
As a child, dressing up, making costumes out of trash bags, scarves, pillow cases, and doing performances was a ritual and a form of expression. The concept came to being by revisiting the innocence and freedom of the childhood masquerade. A time before perceptions of symbol and value had frozen solid. A space, where the form of expression was limited to your very surroundings and the beauty within it. A space where the act of dressing up was taken very seriously one moment, and the next you would crack up laughing. A space, where nothing is too silly and nothing is too serious, where you can be the clown, the mattress or gorilla you want to be. This collection came to being by exploring the poetry of the everyday masquerade.
How would you describe your signature as a designer? How does this reflect in your collection?
As a designer, I wish to present a way of thinking, an approach to making. The aesthetics of my work always derive from an urge to change the order and hierarchy of the symbols and values certain objects contain, through humour and chaos. I do so by dressing up, fooling around, dressing down and showing the poetry of this process. The fool is fooling the fools, when I turn utilitarian objects, basic patterns and wigs inside out, upside down and shift them from one context to another.
In my collection, I fool around with the ordinary. We are surrounded by the ordinary, but somehow its innate beauty doesn’t catch our attention. I explore the poetry in boredom, uniformity and ugliness, by fooling around with ordinary utilitarian objects: an inflatable mattress, a sewing machine cover, couch covers and restriction tape. By playing with these objects and by presenting them in a fashion context, I subvert the perception of these as merely functional and exalt them to a state of poetic hyper ordinarity.
On July 29th, you were introduced to the Lichting jury for the first time. How did you experience this moment? What feedback do you take with you to your presentation during AFW?
The presentation was a good opportunity to show the collection and share perspectives with professionals from the field. Doing the presentation was a great moment to get some fresh eyes with different backgrounds to look at my work.
Which piece from the collection are you most proud of? Why?
I have turned an old Intex air mattress inside out and then with a few cuts and seams, I have repurposed it as a rubber raincoat. This coat sums up my approach as a designer very well. The air mattress is an object that already serves a functional purpose in relation to humans. With a few cuts and seams, I have turned the mattress into a coat. By doing so, I have given it a new function and added an aesthetic value to the material. The air mattress has shifted from only being functional in one context to serving a functional and aesthetic purpose in a fashion context.
What would be the ideal way to present your collection to the public in September? Can you already say something about what you currently have in mind?
The only thing I can say is that hopefully some can goods will be handed out in September.
