The Ice-crystal Princess vol. II - Sustainable Cultural Heritage
“The Ice-crystal Princess vol. II – Sustainable Cultural Heritage” is a Jørgen Simonsen capsule collection made entirely in natural and dyed ring seal, trouser seal and harp sealskin featuring couture silhouettes from daywear tailleurs over an opulent, draped and constructed Opera-coat to cocktail and evening dresses.
Made as a commission by NAPA -The Nordic Institute in Greenland – the brainchild of Katja Vahl V-P and Head of Communications at the institute, with skins sponsored by Great Greenland to promote not only the various aspects of Inuit culture and sustainability in fashion today, but most certainly also to shine a much needed light on the stigmatised, but utterly beautiful material that sealskin is.
The collection made its debut during the Cultural Night in Greenland in January 2017 – displayed at The National Museum in Nuuk, Greenland and will hence forth be travelling the Nordic region as an exhibition over the parcours of the following three years, visiting amongst other places Sisimiut, Paris, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Lapland, Helsinki, Struer in West Jutland (Simonsen’s birthplace), Reykjavîk, and Thorshavn.
The collection is a reflection upon the national costume from Greenland fabulating over history, form, materials, traditional workmanship (local artisans at Kittat and the National Costume School were employed to make the beautiful, traditional albeit strongly modified beadwork and embroidery featured in the collection), cultural heritage and sustainability, but propelled into a Parisian couture-realm as a mere proposal reshaping, relating, reinventing and rejuvenating an already sharply defined sartorial language.
The entire collection was shot on location in Greenland at the breathtaking, staggeringly beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site Ilulissat Ice-fjord by Danish photographer Peter Christian Christensen, featuring the equally gorgeous and stunning supermodel Carmen Kass.
Yakuza Cro-Magnon
“Yakuza Cro-Magnon” is the latest collection by designer Jørgen Simonsen of gorgeous, sleek, modernist eyewear and sunglasses inspired by Japonism and the origin of eyewear interpreted with a cool, contemporary twist and made in precious titanium and Italian acetate, sold exclusively at SPECSAVERS worldwide.
5863, TUXEDO TERRACE” – A/H ’15-’16 by Jørgen Simonsen
A full couture collection spun over the principles of the formal wear invitation “Black Tie”/“White Tie”, with strong elements of men’s tailoring rendered here in an utterly feminine and sensual silhouette, capturing a raw, empowering and unpolished in-your-face undertone.
Certain panoplies derive from Golden Age Hollywood – hence the name of the collection, a place with many personal memories in the Hollywood Hills – with ornate detailing, beading and 3-D embroideries. However, this is set in stark contrast to the much more modern use of futuristic materials, fine leathers and precious skins – all evoking a slight Rock ‘n Roll vibe.
