Day Dresses Collection

Kvennafri Day Dresses Fashion Illustration Collection, November 2023

Eight look fashion illustration collection, consisting of casual day dresses. Inspiration was taken from 1960's-1970's children's clothing, Norwegian dress, and the cult classic Finnish children's series The Moomins. Kvennafri, the collection title, means 'women's day off' in Icelandic, referencing October 24, 1975, when 90% of women in Iceland left work to demonstrate women's contribution to society and protest the gender pay gap. The Moomins' themes of friendship, family, and an appreciation for nature and the outdoors also tie into this, creating a storyline for this collection of women spending time together outside, embracing nostalgia and play.

Three textiles were designed for this collection. The first is inspired by Norwegian quilting and folk textile arts, as well as popular 1970's argyle prints. The second is an Acorn motif, inspired by the representing of acorns in Nordic culture to mean youth, renewal, and fertility, and stylistically by the resurgence of 1920's art nouveau aesthetics in the 1970's. The third textile is a floral design inspired by Tove Jansson's Moomin illustrations of nature.