Words by

Hannah Jane Cohen

Fashion designer Ýr Þrastardóttir quickly made a name for herself in the Icelandic fashion scene with her first collection in 2015. Her label, Another Creation, is now known as one synonymous with structural tailoring, high-end fabric, and innovative multifunctional pieces. Her newest collection ‘Creation 3’ will premier at DesignMarch on March 16th at the catwalk at Canopý Hotel, along with works by another Icelandic brand MYRKA.  

Kaleidoscopic sofas

Ýr’s design process starts from the ground up, or rather, the body up. “I always start my search for new inspiration when beginning a collection by finding the fabrics,” she explains. “Then it evolves from that.  When I realise what fabrics I want to work with, I look at what’s best for the function of the fabric, what works with it and what doesn’t, and then create patterns from that.”

This ideology is easily found in her previous works. ‘Creation 1’, her debut, evoked a romantic Art Deco aesthetic. There, black silk flowed into sweeping blouses while textured gold tweed moulded structured trousers with cuffed ankles. Each piece took their respective fabric and pushed it to its most attractive use, or rather, the fabrics themselves took on patterns that showcased their natural beauty.

For ‘Creation 3’, Ýr found her fated fabric at a rather unusual source for high fashion: an upholstery company. “The store was closing down so I decided to visit and see if they had any leftovers. I ended up finding a lot of interesting fabrics that I had never worked with before,” she laughs. “So I guess it is a sofa collection, or at least inspired by that a little bit.”

Ýr then melded the upholstery fabric with kaleidoscopic graphics she had used in her previous collection. Instead of directly re-using though, she took still frames. “So the collection has become a mix of those two ideas, a combination of the sofa fabric and the kaleidoscope.”

Different days, different flavours

The sofa fabric and kaleidoscope led Ýr into tailored silhouettes inspired by those from the late 70s and early 80s. From there, she added the quintessential Another Creation signatures. “Patchwork has always been a theme for me so there’s a lot of patchwork in this collection of course. I like patchwork because I get to mix together different fabrics and different fabrics always have different elements in them, so they become something completely different when they are joined,” she says.

Perhaps the most recognisable trope of Ýr’s designs though is that of multi-functionality. “I have sustainable coats and jackets that are always going to be in my collections,” she says. “I make different styles of accessories that can be attached or taken off the coats.” Her most famous piece is one of these multi-functional works. In cashmere, the coat was covered with zippers on the sleeves, waist and collar, which meant the coat could be worn in numerous different variations depending on how the wearer is feeling at the moment. Add-ons allow the customer to mix and match daily; the pieces, therefore, become personally creative.   

“I studied fashion design but now I’ve been focusing on pattern making,” Ýr concludes. It’s a natural step for her, it seems, as her products rely heavily on the interaction of structure and the fabrics themselves. It’s an interesting approach to fashion, but one that clearly brings out the best in her designs by pulling creativity from a myriad of sources—sofas, for example.

‘Creation 3’ will premiere on March 16th at 20:00 at the Canopý Hotel.