The Tamesis
Nova Nørgaard’s stunning jumpers paired with matching hats and gloves are definitely not your grandmother’s ski gear. The glittering pieces, part of the budding designer’s Royal Danish Academy graduate collection, are entirely handmade, using only thread and glass beads (there are approximately 500,000 of them). Artisans Jennifer Sapalú Choy, Rosalía Angélica Petzey Petzey and Elisa Tzína Sapalú put in 310 hours of intensive labor working with Pura Utz, a self-described “empowerment project” founded in Guatemala in 2018 by Copenhagen-based Anna Waller Andrés and Bernabela Sapalú.
This North-South connection is an important reminder that cooperation is possible even in times of division. Both Nogaard and Andrés define it as a political project. “I think what we’re trying to do is some kind of poetic activism,” Norgaard said. “You might ask how we can hold on to beauty, poetry and reflection in this dark age we live in. I really want to work with a critical attitude.”
Before Nogard can resolve these issues, she must come to terms with her family’s legacy. Her designer father, designer Mads Nørgaard, is the third generation of a fashion/retail dynasty; she’s not sure she’ll be the fourth. “I thought I really wanted to do something else, something just for me. But at some point I couldn’t deny that this is what I’ve always done. I love creating, I’ve been doing this since I was a kid,” says the designer, who has just moved to Amsterdam to intern at Viktor & Rolf.
Norgaard went all-in and enrolled at the Royal Danish Academy, choosing “reenchantment” as the theme for her graduate work. The idea, as she puts it, “is to look at how we can restore meaning and presence and poetry in the things we wear and the things around us. So it’s very much an examination of fashion’s relevance.” She featured wardrobe staples like jeans and a white T-shirt. Nørgaard, who also has some Norwegian heritage herself, also decided to reimagine the traditional Lusekofte sweater. (Norwegian knitwear became a big topic at the Olympics, as the Norwegian team wore a reimagined version of the sweater designed by Norway Dell for the 1956 Cortina Olympics, while the U.S. team’s uniforms featured the country’s traditional star-shaped eight-point Selbrose pattern.)
