Beckmans College of Design Fashion Show 2022: Meet the designers holding the future of fashion in their hands

With alumni boasting Per Götesson, Ann-Sofie Back and Jade Cropper, Beckmans College of Design has been producing celebrated Swedish designers since 1939, making their Fashion Shows an important glimpse into the future of Scandi talent. Taking place this year at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern in May, the annual graduate runway showcased nine up-and-coming designers. Here they share their collections and inspiration with Vogue Scandinavia. Scroll on for the bright future of fashion.

Idea behind the collection: “I have translated textile and interior design references from my childhood home into concrete garments. I have hand-woven many of the garments on my loom at home, as my intention has been to transfer an interpretation of the typical home textile to a fashion context. I've named my collection ‘Childhood Nostalgia’.”

Favourite look: “A coat that I have woven in light blue and green with lashes. It symbolises a blanket with sunflowers that we had at home when I was little and was used when taking a nap or on the couch. A real favourite blanket.”

Dream career: “I get the freedom to work with textile materials and fashion at the same time. Either for a fashion house or for my own company.”

Idea behind the collection: “This collection, named 'ABC Ö', was all about having fun investigating my own design practice and aesthetic preferences. Exploring maximalism versus minimalism with modular garment functions. A play with familiar garment types where the characteristic features transform - into something shredded, that pulls away and spreads out. Also for the first time, I have explored male-coded garments and menswear. Usually, I do womenswear.”

Favourite piece: “My unisex hand-dyed denim jeans, in cherry colour and bright green. They have flowy panels attached under the extreme cut-out waistband that moves when you walk, offering an almost illusion of double pants. I particularly love the rounded waistband on my jeans that shows a thrilling part of the body and feels perfect for summer.”

Dream career: “All I want for the future is to work within a company where I am allowed to be creative and create.”

Idea behind the collection: “It is based on my archive as a designer and stylist, to which I have gone back in order to find a context for a design language and garment types. A large part of the inspiration is also taken from Iittala’s Alvar Aalto vase — its undulating shapes are a recurring theme in the collection, alongside silhouettes from the ‘70s and ‘90s.”

Favourite piece: “The pink lace dress because it embodies the 1990s aesthetic and attitude with the low cut and short length. Perfect for the beach, the city and late-night clubbing.”

Dream career: “The plan is to move to Paris and try out the life there and spend some time with my friends.”

Idea behind the collection: “My collection is an examination of the female body’s ability to provoke, offend and disturb the field of vision when deviating from the norm in her way of presenting and exposing her body.”

Favourite piece: “The first dress, a long light pink dress that appears to be stuck in a pair of black lace panties. I think the piece showcases the dialogue I want and represents occasions when the clothes let us down in our pursuit of ideals, leaving us suddenly exposed in a situation men seldom find themselves in. The front is the most conservative look of the collection with a back that's highly provoking although it's really just a replica of a mistake.”

Dream career: “A career in the fashion industry where I could continue working on storytelling and conceptual design concerning themes and issues that are close to my heart.”

Idea behind the collection: “It’s been an exploratory project in beauty and ugliness, with insight into my own aesthetics and value of clothing but also of finding and bringing out attractions to what has been condemned to ugliness and the questions if something really is beautiful or ugly. The collection focuses primarily on textile and the materialistic enhancement of the concept which in combination with the silhouette highlights my discussion on the matter of beauty and ugliness.”

Favourite look: “A draped suede torso with accessories, paired with a pair of very distressed jeans. For me, the look best portraits my concept and has that odd attraction to it.”

Dream career: “Work with design and fashion. I’d love to contribute to the future of fashion design with my knowledge and ideas and eventually have a brand of my own.”

Idea behind the collection: “This collection is a timeline that is stuck in encounters of textures and colours, modernity and tradition, it is also where tales about the Silk Road that I was told as a child meet my everyday life as a Scandinavian. Centre of the Silk Road, the meeting point of history and worlds, is my home. I am Uyghur, Chinese-born, and a Swedish citizen. This cross-cultural collection is an inner journey that reunites me with my origins, at the same time as it is a tool for forming a new identity that includes all the cultures I represent.”

Favourite piece: “The white shirt dress. The garment contains all the essential elements that I wanted to portrait, subtile, elegant and a glimpse of history inspired by Yin-Yang and Paisley.”

Dream career: “Having the freedom to create from my heart and soul has been a dream since I was a teen. With that in mind, I have been slowing working on building my brand VeaVera. On the other hand, creating elegance and quality at Bottega Veneta would be a dream come true as well.”

Idea behind the collection: “The collection is based on the phenomenon of dressing up in your partner's clothes. It explores the term 'boyfriend-dressing' targeted toward the male wearer. The concept is well known within womenswear but has not been presented to menswear yet. With a focus on same-gender relationships and classic menswear, the collection conveys the emotional, sexual and intimate exchange through clothing."

Favourite look: “The tailored wool trench, paired with the handheld boxers in silk satin. It is a mixture of a tailored expression with something more effortless and bare.”

Dream career: “If life was a dream I would go back to the late 1990s and be a part of Helmut Lang's glory days. But for the future, I would love to work with people who challenge established structures and concepts of fashion in a smart and simplistic way, with evolving craftsmanship and techniques.”

Idea behind the collection: "'Utopia Has Left the Building' is a collection that embodies an idea of a future dystopia, based on references from pop culture. The purpose of the collection is to shape a contemporary interpretation of our generation's vision of the future and belief in human development. The collection draws clear inspirations and symbols of the vision and elegance of the time, but with elements of depravity, to demonstrate the generational unrest that exists around the world.”

Favourite look: “The helmet which folds out like a flower. It is inspired by a performance by Jobriath on the midnight special in 1971, one of my favourite artists and a big inspiration to my creative process. The helmet provides a clear wow-factor to the show and a sense of hopefulness to the otherwise harsh theme of the collection. It is one of the hardest creations I've ever made but it was totally worth it in the end.”

Dream career: “To be able to combine a performative, almost theatrical aspect into a fashion context. I want to be able to work with pieces that are interactive, continue to interpret movement, rhythm and form into my creations.”

Idea behind the collection: “The collection shapes a personal journey through the art of tailoring and its different rules and traditions. The various elements of tailoring have been distorted, exaggerated and deconstructed; a reflection of emotions and choices that arise in life's journey.”

Favourite look: “The denim jeans that are made in a spiral pattern and lack a side seam. It came out really nice with exposed frayed seams. I like them the most since denim is so far away from tailoring, it’s fun how an exploration of tailoring can lead to a new pair of jeans.”

Dream career: “To be at a place where I have resources to be creative.”