#MyVogueScandinavia: You need to see the corset creations of this stylist-designer duo

When Nina Exposito Holmen and Maren Ruud crossed paths mid-pandemic, it was a sudden, seemingly fated burst of inspiration. Though the duo is over a decade apart in age – Holmen is 35 and Ruud is 23 – they soon discovered they have plenty in common. For starters, Holmen, a seasoned stylist, and Ruud, a fashion design student, are both Norwegian. They’ve both worked at Den Norske Opera & Ballett (The Norwegian Opera and Ballet) – Ruud in production, Holmen in the styling department. And they both relocated to Berlin for love.

“I was very bored during the pandemic,” Holmen explains. “ During lockdown, I was actually just searching for something to do – there were no productions and no fashion jobs.” Seeking inspiration, she turned to Facebook to find a local female freelance team in Germany who might be up for collaborating. During her search, Holmen came across Ruud and, upon noticing she was a fellow Norwegian, decided to reach out. “I immediately fell in love with her designs,” Holmen says.

Holmen and Rudd are sitting side by side on a video call, Ruud wearing a decadent 1960s-inspired dress of her own design, decorated with swirls of gold, Holmen dressed casually in her favourite jeans and a well worn purple sweater – both flea market finds. Together they are the perfect yin and yang.

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Shortly after they first connected, the duo decided to collaborate on an editorial showcasing a Ruud-designed pink corset, fashioned from upcycled silk. Styled by Holmen – who managed to put together an entire production team through personal contacts in under an hour – the images were shot on the rooftop of Hotel de Rome in central Berlin. “I like how [the model’s] tattoos show through the open corset,” says Holmen. They aptly dubbed the series “Love Lockdown.”

Ruud’s romantic designs are historical garments made modern – the corsets, the full skirts. “I think it’s just amazing to work with all of this gigantic clothing and decadence,” she says. “To day everything is so grey. I like to add a little bit of colour.” One day, the designer hopes to have her own fashion brand focusing on tailoring and sustainability. “I’m still in school and so I don't know yet exactly how it's going to be, but I want to do something sustainable and something high quality with good materials and something that is positive and happy,” she says.

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Not only is Ruud focusing on working sustainably, she also has an inspiring take on tailoring. Her corsets are modernised by focusing on the comfort of the women who wear them, without sacrificing aesthetics. “You have to really make something that is for the individual person so they don't have as much discomfort,” she explains. “There's a little bit of cinching in the waist, but there's still room for the hips and that's how you create the silhouette without it being uncomfortable.”

Though the two Norwegians found each other in Berlin, they both keep the Nordics close to their hearts, incorporating elements from the region into their work. Ruud often works with wool – “it’s my favourite material” – a ref lection of her native region’s love of craft and knit. In fact, she’s recently taken up knitting herself. “I knit everywhere,” she says. Holmen laughs, adding, “she even knits on the U-Bahn, in the metro.”

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Meanwhile, Holmen incorporates the distinctive colour palette of Norway into her work. In this shoot, she nods to her home country by way of eyeshadow. “The blue was a reflection of glaciers. Coming from the north of Norway, we have a lot of glaciers,” says Holmen, who grew up in Tromsø.

Though the duo haven’t worked together for long, their easy rapport and infectious visual language indicates a deep understanding and creative kinship. One that will undoubtedly lead to endless arresting images. “I always wished I had a sister,” Holmen says, looking at Ruud. “It was kind of like, actually, I now have this talented baby sister.”

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