Natural world
Gudrun Sjödén’s new outdoor-ready, eco-friendly summer collection celebrates the joy of living in harmony with the earth
Free-flowing, comfortable and colourful, Gudrun Sjödén’s expressive summer collection looks most at home in the outdoors. Its prints and shades were inspired by the four elements, with firey reds and oranges, earthy garden-inspired florals, watery blues and a breezy scattering of polka dots, plus many other playful and distinctive patterns and colours. The Scandinavian designer has long been known for her planet-friendly garments, and this season’s new collection is no exception, incorporating organic and recycled cotton, mulesing-free wool, dew-retted flax and other sustainable materials.
SUNKISSED STYLE
As Gudrun strolled among the olive groves and lemon trees of Greece, taking in the cotton fields that would produce the fabric for her future collections, she envisioned gardeners wearing her bright, relaxed-fit dresses, tops, trousers, jackets and other clothing as they reconnected with nature and enjoyed the warm summer sun. The result was this stunning collection, though Gudrun found plenty of inspiration elsewhere as well. Her designs are influenced by everything from the shops of Thessaloniki on the Aegean Sea and Chinese paper kites to the summertime water lilies of Scandinavia and more.
DOING SOME GOOD Gudrun prefers using natural materials for her collections. Since the early 1990s, she’s used organic cotton jersey, which is organically dyed to avoid the negative environmental impacts of wet processing. As for their Merino wool, it’s mulesing-free, so it’s kinder to the animals involved as well. To find out more, visit www.gudrunsjoden.com