Collection 4 THE NORTH

KALTBLUT: Congratulations for the successful launch of
your very first collection and the label JÖR by Gudmundur
Jörundsson. I love every single piece of your collection. Tell
us what is your vision with your design?
GUDMUNDUR: Thank you Marcel, that‘s great to hear. I guess my vision
for design runs on different obsessions, which makes every collection and
the label in general a sort of concept label and concept collections. I like
creating a different world for each collection.
KALTBLUT: What I like most looking at your designs is the
mix of classic menswear with this special touch of futuristic
style. Where do you get your inspiration from?
GUDMUNDUR: Inspiration comes from all directions I guess, most
frequently from conversations, movies, photography and even dreams.
KALTBLUT: Ice-Land, Myths, Legends and Nature is the
theme of this issue. How much has Iceland influenced your
work?
GUDMUNDUR: Probably more then I suspect myself. I spend a lot of time
in nature, but it would be a cliché to say I‘m inspired by Icelandic nature.
Maybe I am a cliché after all. Nevertheless, living in an almost non-existent
Icelandic fashion scene is fun. It‘s our time.
KALTBLUT: What kind of material do you work with? And do
you work with fabrics from your home country?
GUDMUNDUR: I am a lot into natural fabrics, and slowly adding more
and more of organic fabrics. I have been best described as a „linen pervert“.
Guilty as charged on that subject. From Icelandic fabrics, I have only
used leather -- There are not so many options when it comes to Icelandic
fabrics, of course you have the Icelandic wool for knitting. It‘s rough and
itchy, good for herding but nothing more. What I have used in the leather
area? Icelandic lamb, reindeer and cod for example.
KALTBLUT: Looking at your first fashion show for JÖR I have
to say: I love the type of guys you have booked for the show.
What does the perfect man look like for your garment?
GUDMUNDUR: The guys play an important role in the making of a
collection and a lot of time goes into researching models. As to the perfect
guy for my garments I have to say that it ranges also, depending on each
collection. For example this collection is more ‚sud de france‘ than before,
more delicate.
KALTBLUT: Can you explain: Why menswear and not fashion
for women? What is the reason?
GUDMUNDUR: Well, to tell you the truth I have just as much interest
nowadays in womenswear. And we will be adding womenswear to the JÖR
collection soon. But at first I was more interested in menswear. There are
so many rules in menswear to break, you don‘t have that in womenswear.
KALTBLUT: You graduated from Iceland Academy of Arts last
year. And we can see that you are very talented in what you
do. Have you always wanted to be a fashion designer?
GUDMUNDUR: No, I guess not. I’m not sure I was aware of the existence
of fashion design until later in my life. I figured it out around 17 or 18. Then
a little later I started working for Kormákur & Skjöldur at their shop. A
little later I was studying fashion design; I had just dropped out of school
and was kind of lost. When I started working at the Kormákur & Skjöldur
store I withheld my focus on fashion or menswear. At first the K&S store
was focusing on second hand formal menswear. I stayed back in the
stock where all the Savile Row tailored suits were. They were from the old
Bertie Wooster store in London. I remember I used to smell the Savile Row
garments. Kind of sick when you think about it.
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