Norwegian Rain - In Between Seven Mountains

It's not often you meet people as driven as the creators behind the Bergen based concept, Norwegian Rain. The Bergen-born founder and creative director Alexander Helle has formed a brand together with local experts such as bespoke tailor man T Michael and Grandpeople graphic design studio, where they've specialized in designing and presenting outerwear made to keep you 100 per cent dry and warm. On the top of that, the Norwegian Rain garments are elegantly shaped and made with eco-friendly fabrics with fine details sewn in, taken from classical traditional men's tailoring. Norwegian Rain has what it takes to become really successful, and finally maybe it's time to get rid of the umbrellas.

Dazed Digital: Please give us a brief presentation of Norwegian Rain?
Norwegian Rain: Growing up in Bergen, Norway means a life in rain. You can hate it or love it. No matter how you approach it, one thing is certain; it will rain tomorrow, or the day after. While living in Milan three years ago, the creative collective I lived in put me in the right frame of mind and I decided to get something good out of the rainy situation. After meticulously seeking out local expertise back home, the project named Norwegian Rain was born and is continuously evolving due to the concept of dugnad*. The company consists of the bespoke men's tailor; T-Michael, the graphic design studio; Grandpeople and myself as the Founder and Creative Director. These days we are pre-launching with a distinctive limited collection of men's rainwear.

DD: If Norwegian Rain were a music constellationñwhat would it sound like?
Norwegian Rain: Kings of Convenience meets The Monster Army, with a stroke of Blue Note music.

DD: How would you describe your own designs?
Norwegian Rain: Extreme rain protection meets traditional men's tailoring. It's based on Japanese simplicity and the elaborate technical details found in the making of hi-tech, protective gear. I want to bring in not only the fine details present in tailoring, but also the fit and the comfort. To grasp the sartorial feeling that excites the wearer. We are happy to collaborate with an eco conscious Japanese fabric supplier that had exactly what we were searching including a strong eco focus. An example is the making of the recycled high-performance fabrics where the Co2 emissions are reduced by 80 per cent compared to normal production.

DD: What is the best / worst thing about Bergen?
Norwegian Rain: Well, it rains a lot two out of three days a year. For us however this is in our favor, being the best laboratory we could get. Because of the small size it is very transparent. Easy for different art forms - architecture, design, music, film, creative carpenters and so on to seek each other out and work together. It seems that a lot of exciting things are going on in Bergen right now under the surface. The underground music scene is vibrant with bands like The New Wine, Kings of Convenience, Datarock, Sondre Lerche, John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen just to mention a very few.

DD: Tell us more about your work process?
Norwegian Rain: The tailor works on a raincoat as he works on a bespoke suit, and from there we solve functional problems as they comes, twisting it, testing it, and adjusting it over and over and over. For us the functional part is something extra that comes on top of it being a great men's coat made for a contemporary lifestyle.

DD: What inspires you to create?
Norwegian Rain: The dedicated 75 year old-ish man in a convenience store in Isola in Milan who wrapped the cheese I bought with such a preciseness and care that it might as well have been the most valuable piece of goods in the world. Such professional pride and service-minded attitude that saves the day are rare these days! It really makes you inspired. Artisans. Old things. Diversity. Surprising contrasts. Creative clusters. Eccentrics and nonconformists. People in general are fascinating as long as you separate them from group thinking and total uniformity.

DD: How important is fashion?
Norwegian Rain: Would a world of absolute conformity be exciting? Would it even be convenient?

DD: What are your future goals?
Norwegian Rain: We will continue specializing as a niche rain brand from Bergen, being a playground for local creatives. Besides a worldwide distribution via our webshop on www.norwegianrain.com, we are working on finding one suitable store in Paris, UK and Japan and are always on the lookout for people that would like to explore rain in new directions.

All photos are courtesy of Norwegian Rain. The debut collection, inspired by Japanese simplicity and Scandinavian functionalism is ready for a sneak preview. A limited edition will be available in selected stores Autumn 2009.

*DUGNAD is an old Norwegian term for people getting together and voluntarily working towards a common goal that benefits the community, the neighborhood or an individual. Originally this term expressed the friendly spirit of people helping each other out when a foundation or barn needed to be built.