Pool Position

Photo: John Scarisbrick

As Sandra Backlund continues to grow her fledgling label her directional silhouettes continue to be highly recognisable. Offering a stark colour scheme for Spring/Summer 2009, here she has demonstrated her interpretation of spiderwebs, orchids, and butterflies.

Photo: John Scarisbrick


Often I have been asked, is her designs wearable? For some absolutely, but for the average woman she has designed pieces that can be worn with jeans, or skirts. Heavy pullovers worn on a tall individual would be best, but a scarf can be worn by all. I'm not sure if she has created any scarves but in her previous collections there have been some hoods/hats.

Photo: John Scarisbrick

Her concentration on heavy knitted collages in large organic shapes that never ever repeat season after season never seem to disappoint. According to Sandra her designs are fuelled by thinking of wool as a sculpting tool rather than a fashion tool.


Photo: John Scarisbrick



Collaborations I would like to see: Donna Karan, Alexander McQueen, Ermanno Scervino

Ted Noten

Not your traditional jewelry designer, Dutch conceptualist and artist Ted Noten has been casting jewelry in plastic acrylic molds for over 15 years. These molds, which resemble briefcases, suitcases and handbags, were (and still are) the pieces that he was most famous for – specifically his line of Lady K Bags, which are bags housing glamorous weapons.

Noten, who’s annoyance and frustration stems from the fact that today’s jewelry of status is made from diamonds, creates his art by finding beauty in the obscure. His 1998 design, Chew Your Own Brooch, requires that gum be chewed into a one-off personal brooch that is then cast in silver and gilded.

Since 2005, Atelier Ted Noten has extended his exclusive jewelry creations towards (interior) design projects, installations and assignments for both private collectors and art institutions, ranging from Mercedes Benz brooches for the Dutch Fashion Awards to designing a new entrance for the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, NE.

Noten’s upcoming projects for 2008 include 38 rings inspired by female archetypes (re: Madonna and others), as well as a presentation, lecture and exhibition beginning on November 23, 2008 at the Stedelijk Museum in the
Netherlands.

Collaborations I would like to see: UNIQLO

text: Vanessa Voltolina