Ever since its incarnation in the mid-late 90s, Roland Hjort's Whyred has been a staple piece in a Swedish fashionista's wardrobe. Staple pieces can be boring and there is no getting around the fact that Hjort, if anything, makes classics with a twist and devotes his time to updating and perfecting the items of clothing that are dear to him. And a lot of others, it appears. For Spring Summer 2012, Whyred went back to basic - at least if the name is anything to go by - and showed a collection dominated by red, pink and salmon shades.
Many pieces came in a style familiar to long time Hjort fans; sub-culturally inspired and army influenced parkas and M65 jackets dominated the looks for both men and women. An abstract and loud print landed a colour explosion at the show, held at the brand's flagship store, just off Stockholm's Sture Plan. Another detail worth noting, and the main reason the show caught our attention, was the skilful colour matching. Whyred subtly upped their game by combining both red and white with beige shades, creating a powerful look for next spring. Floor long check shirt dresses continued Hjort's mixture of directional garments and wearable staple pieces.
Dazed Digital: What was your starting point, the red thread going through the collection?
Roland Hjort: The theme was a bit of a Rodchenko feeling. We talked about krasnyee, which means 'red' in Russian. It was all about poster art from 1920s Russia.
DD: What about the parkas and army jackets?
Roland Hjort: Yeah, that's pure Whyred.... Mod style. It's typical Mods to mix army pieces with suits. I love mixing those two elements. It's like the manager of The Who said.... ' Clean living under difficult circumstances'. Italian suits underneath second hand army coats and so on...
DD: What about the colour combinations....
Roland Hjort: Yeah, four shades of red. They're a combination of the Russian Communist theme with our Mods roots.
DD: What about the prints?
Roland Hjort: That was meant to be all about chaos... a thousand colours all mixed into one piece...
DD: Is there a piece that summarises the collection for you?
Roland Hjort: Plenty but I like the rust red pieces and the colourful print on formal garments that mess things up a bit.
