10 Fashion Designers From Iceland You Should Know

Ásta Vilhelmína Guðmundsdóttir is the Iceland-based fashion designer behind Ásta créative clothes. Her artwork and designs take inspiration from the quickly shifting variations of Icelandic weather. With a delicate attention to the natural tendencies of the textile, her creations evoke a whimsical state between unraveling and composition. More recently, Ásta has been participating more and more with installations and sculptures for which she has used such fibers as bamboo, bamboo thread, horsehair, and silk. She has participated in numerous exhibitions, symposiums, and residencies both in Iceland and abroad. Her work edges the line between textile art installation and wearable fashion. You can find her work in the design shop, Kirsuberjátréð in Reykjavík.

Myrka is the label of the Icelandic fashion designer, Harpa Einarsdóttir. Using inspiration from Icelandic cultural history, the designs visually illustrate notions of the landscape and mythology with artful prints, sharp silhouettes, and a unique elegance. The brand embraces craftsmanship as well, basing their work on socially and environmentally conscious clothing.

Geysir designs give you the sensation you have walked into a well-manicured country estate nestled deep in a fjord instead of a shop off the main shopping street in Reykjavik. Geysir designs are seemingly inspired by a balance of city life in a Scandinavian capital as well as Iceland’s particular history of craft from natural materials and knitwear especially. The shop reflects this balance between city life/country life and tradition/modernity using locally sourced textiles and yarns mixed with other quality materials.

Hildur Yeoman has slowly become one of Iceland’s leading fashion designers, known for her elaborate designs and attention to the aesthetic world created by her collections. Her new shop in Reykjavik, Yeoman, which opened in Spring 2017, reflects her atmospheric and distinct designs. Hildur is first and foremost a fashion designer, but her illustration skills, as well as other collaborative art forms can be found in her creative process, all contributing to a very distinct aesthetic that is completely Hildur Yeoman.

Eygló was the winner of “Fashion Design of the Year 2016” with her enigmatic prints, featuring sometimes humorous subject matter, of varying textures. Eygló started her own label in 2006 after graduating from the Iceland Academy of Arts. She is a part of fashion design collective that co-runs KIOSK in downtown Reykjavik, where you can find her designs. KIOSK has won the award “Best shop to buy local fashion design” seven years in a row.

milla snorrason is a bold label that is at once relaxed and active. The Icelandic fashion designer behind the label, Hilda Gunnarsdóttir, makes layered pieces that embody feminine eccentricity. The pieces balance both modern Iceland and the island’s cultural roots by using Icelandic free range wool in the knitwear pieces. Each collection is named after a specific place in Iceland from which she gathers the graphic forms for the pieces. Thus far, Vondugil, Strákagil, and Stykkishólmur have been used as collection inspirations.

STEiNUNN is the label of Icelandic fashion designer, Steinunn Sigurðardóttir. The collection expresses a plethora of knitted varieties, detailing the craft with technique and fabric. Steinunn has recently experimented with the boundaries of her mainstay craft of knitting by facilitating ‘Rhythm Knitting’ workshops that allow knitters to acquaint themselves with the musical element of the craft. Visit her studio/shop in the Grandi area of Reykjavik, which features accessories to add to the collections mainstays, as well as art and photographs that reveal the designer’s inspirations.

Farmers & Friends is the carrier of the Icelandic design label Farmers Market. Established in 2005, inspiration is found in Icelandic nature and culture with product lines featuring classic Nordic design movements with a minimal modernism. A sort of romantic country atmosphere describes the whole collection with its sustainable use of natural fabrics and craftsmanship. The pieces in the collection are suitable for authentic style in an urban setting as well as when engaged in outdoor activities.

This primarily men’s fashion line, Kormákur & Skjaldar, features a selection of products that take special inspiration from British fashion staples with an interest in wool garments that withstand harsh Northern climates while still holding a signature style. Established in 2010, the brand’s outlook has often been on using inspiration from the past with a special interest in tweed, bringing to men’s fashion a timeless elegance that never goes out of style.