Stockholmfashiondays.com - Interview

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”Why is fashion so interesting”? This is a question that Göran Sundberg can definitely ask. After a long career in fashion and a few attempts to change career, he is now back with his own label, Göran Sundberg. With his third collection showing in August he feels that he has got some stability in the concept, though still dealing with the internal conflict between art and commercialism.

Pictures with regards to Göran Sundberg.

“When you start working with the third collection you reach an interesting stage with the label”, says Göran. “The concept starts getting clear. It’s like making a full album now instead of just singles”, he continues. He compares his work with a writer or journalist that tells the same story over and over again, though it changes slightly every time.

Göran has had a long career in fashion. He was educated in Sweden and went to school with another famous Swedish designer; Marcel Marongiu and after a few years working with his own label and working in South East Asia, they started a business venture together. They were inspired by the London club scene at the time and the clothes were very maximalistic. The club scene in London might have been big, but it was far too niched for Sweden at the time and after a few years it was time for Göran to leave for some hard work in Paris instead.

Picture with regards to Göran Sundberg. After three years in Paris it was time for Stockholm again, Stockholm Univeristy and studies in business to be exact. This led to a degree in business and six months of accounting work at Systembolaget before it was time for fashion again. A short period of writing about fashion for Nöjesguiden changed into a job as Editor for the Fashion Industry Magazine Habit, a position he held until last year, when it was time to move on again.

“All this experience, and not the least my theoretical education, has led to new perspectives now when I am back working with fashion”, Göran says. “One might ask why fashion is so interesting”, he says. “For me fashion is so much; its creativity, marketing work, a sociological aspect and communication”, he continues. “Fashion has to have a relation to present day and everything you do have to be questioned – it is addictive”.

As editor of Habit it was Göran’s job to cover the industry and he has been involved in several projects working with improving the prerequisites for the Swedish fashion industry. It is hard for him to talk about himself and much prefers to talk about the industry and its development. Some things he has, or has had, very strong opinions about; like the new “fashion queens” of Sweden, the 20something girls that has taken over the commercial fashion media.

Picture with regards to Göran Sundberg. “I was really angry about the whole phenomenon for a while. It seemed that they only ruined fashion and made it into something that was only about consumption”, he explains. “After a rather inflammatory speech I held at Future Design Days it kind of changed though, and I more have the feeling that they probably have a purpose as well”. One good thing that they have done according to him is that they have made it ok to consume fashion in a different way than it used to be.

Consumption and commercialism are clearly sensitive matters. It is clear that Göran thinks of fashion as art and something there should be a passion for, not just something that is made to be consumed without reflection. With the presentation of the third collection there will most definitely be a lot of passion involved.