Designer Thea MARIE IBSGAARD

Hi Thea! Please introduce yourself and your brand. What do you represent?

I'm working on finding my brand identity. The things I’m creating are still very personal and impulsive driven. I'm still exploring the materials I like to work in. The aesthetic is feminin, sensuel and nostalgic. I'm inspired by my great grandmother's crochet which I'm often taking a look at. I sew, I knit, I print but to crochet is more intuitive because it has an immediate feeling. It is easy to translate my ideas to something real pretty fast. At the same time I would like to stress that I have a lot of respect for the history of craftsmanship. I feel connected to my great grandmother through the work even though I never met her since she also was creating crochets.  It can be a slowly done work so it takes time. I think it is important to say that crochet as a technique cannot be reproduced on a machine like knitting can. So when you see something in the stores which have been crocheted it means there has been a person physically sitting  with it in their hands. No matter how fast that person is, you cannot get around that it takes longer to create it in your hands than on a machine.

How did the idea originate? 

I received some of my great grandmother's crochets. She has crafted I don´t know how much. Much of it has disappeared but my grandmother has a moving box and, my mom has five boxes and I have a good portion myself. It is inspiring to think about the unbelievable amount of time there has been spent on it.   When I began to engage myself on with crouching I realized how big of an investment it was. She has been sitting in the evening and making it and that is also what I do when I get off from work.  

Can you briefly explain which thoughts that lay behind the materials you are using?

I am constantly trying to look for recycled materials. I receive stuff from people, I'm finding stuff in recycling stores and The Blue Paper. Sometimes I buy new stuff if I can't find it used. As a point of departure I think you should strive towards using recycled clothes and on prolonging the life of the materials. When I buy something new I defend it with the fact that it takes time to create so it isn't a fast profit.  I never throw materials out when I make something. If I don't like what I make I unravel it and create a new design from the materials.

What do you think about the development in Denmark in regard consciousness about sustainable fashion?

I definitely see that sustainability as a concept is taking up more space. Of course I am that old so I don´t have a perspective from several decades to compare it to.

I do think that sometimes the use of the concept sustainability seems superficial and it is easy to see through that it is something a lot of companies do because it is a sales strategy. But I also recognize that it is a huge challenge because it is a whole industry that needs to be reconstructed. A genuine change demands a revolution of the way the industry is built up. It is not just about whether or not the consumers buy “sustainable materials”. It is something fundamental that needs to be changed.  

How do you think that the consumers can be made more aware of sustainable fashion?

Right now I think I wish to shine light upon the fact that everything we are wearing is created by another human being. I think that a lot of people know it but I don't think that the majority is giving it much thought. I think that something that could change the habits of the consumers is if they get a greater gratitude if they would realize how much work it takes to produce clothes. Everybody who has been sitting and creating clothes or knitting for themself must realize the amount of work that is being put into it.  

How does the future look for your brand? Any exciting plans for the future?

Right now I'm mostly concerned about how to build a real business based on what I'm doing. The challenge is that it is taking time and is expensive to sell and there is a limit on how expensive it can be. It is all about finding a middle road between what people in one site can afford and on the other side balancing it in relation to the fact that it takes a lot of time to create. I am starting to suspect that I have arthritis. Both my mom and grandmother suffer from arthritis in their hands. So I think a lot about how I can make it sustainable for my body to continue to create crochets.