Stockholmfashiondays.com - Jojo & Malou

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It is a sunny February day when I meet the dynamic duo that was recently awarded with Swedish Elle´s newcomer of the year award. We are meeting up in their slightly messy studio under a shop in Bloomsbury in central London.

About a month ago I met them before the Elle awards when it was time to receive the award. Then we did the normal questions about background, how it felt to receive the award etc. The good thing about meeting up with people for a second interview after such a short while is that the chat/interview so easily continues and develops.

“It was really fun with all the attention and appreciation that we got with the Elle award” they both say. “Though we haven´t really got any credit for it here in London it is still a great reference and obviously very good to make sales easier in Sweden”, Malou continues.

Jojo & Malou

Malou is the one normally doing most of the talking. Not that Jojo is completely quiet but they do have very defined roles. “People always think we will get into a big fight because we are such good friends and manage to work together as well”, Malou says. Both agree that it is quite amazing to be able to spend so much time together without ever arguing but they also agree that it is a strength. “We know exactly when the other one needs some time on her own”, Jojo explains.

In Stockholm they told me that they don´t really have any specific roles but when sitting down with them again it is obvious that Malou is a big brainstormer. “We talk about something and then she gets stuck on it and then next day when I am back with the office she has got sketches and a whole plan to execute this idea”, Jojo explains. Last time this happened it was quite apparently when Malou got stuck on hats. A flamingo that sounds rather out of this world seem to have one of the big things then…

Malou in front of the studio - how London can it be? Since the girls moved to London when they were both 18 (they met at their first fashion college) it has been a good and interesting experience to show in Sweden, which they have done for the past two seasons. I get the feeling that though they never want to move back it gives them that extra connection with Sweden that is so nice to have when living abroad.

London is surely the city that inspires this dynamic duo though. You only need a quick look at their collection to understand that they have a very different source of inspiration compared to the designers based in Sweden.

Saying that you get inspired by London might be a bit narrow though and everybody who has lived here knows that you need to narrow it down to a part of the city. For this duo it is certainly areas east of the City like Shoreditch, Hackney and Dalton that gives them the inspiration. These used to be the really rough neighbourhoods in London but whilst the city grows it gets more and more incorporated in the rest of city. No matter if this happens all areas of London always keep a bit of their own identity, just like they can in Stockholm.

“The great thing about London is that you can live in your own little world and don´t really care about people that are not in it”, Malou says. This might be the reason why this duo so easily continues to do what they like and are good at, though still being able to develop the collections in an interesting way every season.