Emma Elwin

Notes from a Swedish stylist

Vintage Gems and International Brand Classics with Modern-day Outlet Afound

Posted in Style
by Emma Elwin on 31 January, 2019

Emma Elwin teams up with modern-day outlet Afound to share her best style advice–and guides to some of the prettiest things available at the marketplace selling carefully selected, discounted fashion and lifestyle products.

Have you discovered Afound yet? As one of the H&M Group’s latest concepts, Afound is an innovative marketplace–a modern-day outlet sweeping the world for gems and selling them at discount prices, both in physical stores and online. Afound currently operates in Sweden but hopes to expand internationally soon (follow Afound on Instagram and Facebook to be first in line to know).

I obviously love the idea of offering season-less, curated, timeless fashion, and prolonging the lifetime of clothes from previous seasons (who cares about the season?). I also love that Afound offers unique vintage accessories from timeless brands alongside new things. So when Afound asked me to share my best tips for a sustainable wardrobe I was excited.

If you’re curious to know about my very best wardrobe staples and how I reason when building a wardrobe to last, click here. I’ve also selected and styled some of my favorite items available at Afound right now – exclusive vintage pieces as well as timeless classics from some major international brands – check it out!

Fantastic Four: Let There Be Light

Posted in Style
by Emma Elwin on 26 January, 2019

For the past few weeks, the darkness has been very overwhelming, and I’ve felt this urge to surround myself with light. So, here are four things that inspire me in these dark times:

1. What better way to protect your wooden table than with white crystals coasters. I’m hoping to find similar ones to these on a flee market this spring.

2. My favourite brand Bite Studios‘ spring collection gives me hope. The collection is focused on timeless design, detail and craftsmanship; underpinned by aesthetics that are timeless and understated. Also, Bite Studios only use fabrics made with natural, non-harmful dying processes and treatments.

3. The lamp of my dreams! I’ve been thinking of this lamp since I saw it in October, and couldn’t stop myself from ordering it…

4. Like I wrote a while back, my mission right now is to cover my walls with work by female artists to level up my daily intake of girl power. This painting by Swedish artist Siri Derkert is one that I would love to decorate my study with.

Visiting the ‘Margiela, the Hermès Years’ Exhibition

Posted in Life
by Emma Elwin on 1 January, 2019

A couple of weeks ago we visited Artipelag for the ‘Margiela, the Hermès Years’ exhibit. This is what I learned: Between 1997 and 2003, Martin Margiela was employed by Jean-Louis Dumas, then CEO of Hermès, to lead the work of the French fashion house’s ready-to-wear collections for women. The collaboration proved to be one of fashion’s most exciting, and is now presented in this exhibition.

Martin Margiela started his own fashion house Maison Martin Margiela in 1988. The mysterious designer soon appeared to be the actual antithesis of a classic celebrity designer.

Comfort, timelessness, sensuality, and authenticity are keywords that characterize Margiela’s vision of the Hermès woman.

Some thought that the collaboration between Margiela and Hermès was unexpected, but Margiela proved to be a masterful interpreter of the Hermès DNA. His starting point was the natural and confident woman, rather than the eternal ideal of the world of fashion. Margiela dressed the models in genuine materials, with the classic sewing art to articulate the individual style. The result became an exciting hybrid between Margiela’s iconoclasm and Hermès’ timeless quality.

My favorite part of the exhibit was the remake garments; this sweater is made of knitted socks and the top is made from gloves.

The ‘Margiela, the Hermès Years’ exhibition was created in 2017 by curator Kaat Debo and Martin Margiela of MoMu (fashion museum Antwerp). Creations from Martin Margiela’s own brand are presented in dialogue with the work he performed for Hermès. The exhibition includes more than one hundred outfits, photographs and short films in a context where Hermès’ typical color orange interacts with Maison Martin Margiela’s white. In this way, the creative process that seamlessly navigates between the two fashion houses and their respective identities is explained.

Klick here to read more!