New Book by Tonie Lewenhaupt
In the introductory text, Tonie Lewenhaupt writes, “Ready-to-wear clothing aligns with our view of society, women's rights, and our hopes for equality and freedom of expression. Early Swedish ready-to-wear was often habitually copied from foreign models, but there were excellent exceptions that paved the way from the 1930s to the 1960s and a new era of independent design. Erling Richard, Kerstin Lokrantz, Rohdi Heintz, and of course, Katja of Sweden were as important pioneers as the ready-to-wear companies that once recognized the importance of independent design.”
Excerpt from the chapter about Kerstin Lokrantz
Kerstin Lokrantz was tall, blonde, creative, and impatient. She worked as a model, sketched, sewed her own wardrobe, and accepted when the ready-to-wear company Ivar Wahl asked her to design their new collections. The year was 1951.
It was bold of the Wahls, as they later came to be known, with three brothers and strong-willed in-laws, to invest in a young, inexperienced designer. Or perhaps that was precisely why they needed her.
Kerstin Lokrantz's first collection was a great success. Buyers and customers were enthusiastic, including those abroad. Customers such as Harrods in London, Magasin du Nord in Copenhagen, and soon the major department stores in New York praised Wahls and their young fearless designer.
A lengthened men’s shirt, an equally long polo sweater, a back-buttoned knee-length cardigan, summer dresses in simple stripes, cotton for parties, embroidered edges in unexpected places, pockets in every direction, unconventional slits, and as if that wasn't enough, Kerstin added super-wide belts in black patent leather or saddle straps around the waists. It was new and unconventional but not provocative. She found her tone in Swedish folk culture. The shirts and aprons of folk costumes, the stylized patterns of wall paintings, and the striped mattress covers influenced her just as much as the workwear of the early 20th century in corduroy or the children's sailor suits in cadet stripes. Kerstin interpreted all of this freely and simply.
Her clothes were easy to live in, simple to put on, and open to interpretation based on personal taste and resources. Almost none of Kerstin Lokrantz's garments for Wahls remain. The Nordic Museum has a dress in bolster-striped fabric on display. When I made my first fashion history book, Lilla svarta, in 1984, I borrowed some of her garments from friends at the magazine Femina. Ten years later, Kerstin herself made two copies for me and two new projects. Today, a black basic dress and a turquoise bodice are part of the Röhsska Museum's collections.
Paradoxically, it is much harder to find a period-typical Swedish ready-to-wear garment than an original from Dior or Balenciaga!
Elsa Lokrantz, Kerstin's daughter, has documented her professional life as much as possible, but no clothes remain. The explanations are the usual ones: a ready-to-wear garment wears out, disappears without a trace into collections, and has no value. The exceptions are the chunky knitwear from Katja of Sweden and the clothing collections lovingly cared for by theaters and film companies. The Textile Museum in Borås is also collecting, increasingly intensively, Swedish ready-to-wear and will eventually have a broad and exciting collection from the first coats in the late 1800s to today.
In preparation for a TV series about Swedish ready-to-wear that aired in September 2022, I was to talk about Katja of Sweden, with whom I worked closely for many years. Katja started as a designer at MMT in 1954-55, while Kerstin joined Wahls in 1951. The two designers had partly different target audiences, but Kerstin Lokrantz was the pioneer. Without her, Swedish ready-to-wear would have had a slower start and less independence.
In the book Finns i flera färger och storlekar: Svensk konfektion, en historia (Available in multiple colors and sizes: Swedish ready-to-wear, a history), we follow a personal style journey through the successful development of ready-to-wear in Sweden. In the mid-20th century, Swedish factories made most clothing: suits, dresses, coats, work clothes, corsets, and much more. The story runs through various garments in time and space, from elegant coats to revolutionary jeans. It discusses cuts, materials, decorations, details, clothing composition, and color. We also meet influential fashion creators, illustrators, and designers. The book includes stories about classic boutiques, the development of mail order, and other groundbreaking changes in the fashion industry. It is richly illustrated with fashion photos, sketches, newspaper clippings, and personal stories.
Tonie Lewenhaupt is an author, costume historian, and illustrator. She is educated at Konstfack and has extensive experience in the fashion industry as a journalist, author, and illustrator. Among her previous books are Tidlösa trådar: klassiska kläder från antiken till våra dagar (Timeless Threads: Classic Clothing from Antiquity to Today), Kläders tysta språk (The Silent Language of Clothes), Svart som idéer och tankar kring svarta kläder (Black as Ideas and Thoughts on Black Clothing), and Inte bara mode: Samhället som modeskaparesamt Bilden av modet (Not Just Fashion: Society as Fashion Creators and the Image of Fashion) together with Lotta Lewenhaupt.
Publishing company Arena.