PRESENT: Sia Arnika

Consider the Limfjord oyster, for many, the best-tasting mollusc of all. It was in such high demand by King Frederik II and his court, that he declared them “crown regalia” and forbade the people of Mors — the fjord’s biggest island — to eat any themselves. Fast forward half a millennium and it seems that the islanders have gone searching for their oysters, or rather: the good life that is found elsewhere. For the last five decades, Mors’ population has been slowly but continuously dwindling so that in 2020 it is 20 percent smaller than in 1970.

Had those who left in recent years been born in Mors’s heyday circa 1850, they might have been tempted to stay, as Nykøbing, the island’s capital was a bustling port city back then. Historic pictures from island photographers P. Raaberg and C. Pedersen show individuals dressed in finest Victorian garb – not exactly the look of dull backwaters. It was archival pictures like these which made designer Sia Arnika fall in love with the island again. Like many of her peers, she fled Mors as soon as she could. Now she is revisiting the place of her youth – and its history – by creating a wardrobe that serves as a connection between tradition and the avant-garde. As such, the first collection for Sia Arnika’s namesake brand draws heavily on what she calls her ‘island experience’:

It is a place where both minimalism and maximalism are present. It is rooted in a dynamic of constant tension between anonymity and bold declaration. It holds a notion of new and old existing in symbiosis with each other. This idea of kinship not bound by place and time, but rather a shared space of mind is also explored in Sia Arnika’s collaboration with Firpal Jawanda, a non-binary Punjabi artist based in London. Their prints for SIA ARNIKA SS21 come from a practice of garment making that focuses on South Asian chimeric folklore, language and mythology. This dialogue is taken further in the pieces created together with knitwear designer Emma Hasselblad. Her handcrafted dresses and accessories serve as a vessel to transport the idea of a living organism. —Text by Hans Bussert

Sia, can you tell us more about your process of making Frutti di Mare from beginning to end?

With the current situation I started examining what it is I really want to do with my time and what brings my joy. I think like a lot of people did. You started to evaluate this point in your life and questioning how to move forward, and I was ready to go my own way and create my own brand. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about heritage and environment; so I started looking into my own. Digging into archive of the small island I grew up on in rural Denmark, a former thriving port city way back when. But in my memory the island was reminiscent of countryside small town; bad discotheques, tanning salons and a dwindling population.

So I wanted to combine these two perceptions of the island to produce my own narrative of a woman born in the past but living in the future. I got really into to these old photographs from island portraying both the top of the society, shown in their finest garb, but also the backbone of the society, the workers and fishermen. The detailing and silhouettes. Then taking these and morphing them into my memory of growing up in the 90s and early 00s in a place where MTV and Myspace was all the rave.

I started with the fluffy knit pieces as my focal point. I wanted to have something fun and so quintessential me. Something reminiscent of underwater corals and 90s rave wear. I contacted the knitwear artist Emma Hasselblad, if she could craft this idea I had. From then on I developed and made the rest of the collection in Copenhagen. Molding and creating all the pieces.

What’s your morning ritual?

Being woken up by the construction workers at the neighboring plot. lol

How did a typical day look like for you when you were working on the collection?

At that time I was in Copenhagen working out if my apartment knowing that I had to give it my all to be able to finish the collection in time for the soft launch during Copenhagen Fashion week.

I was getting up early and going to bed late, exploiting every minute of those waking hours getting shit done. Moving fast but being meticulous. Being organized so things didn’t get out of hand.

In general I try my best not to get to a point of complete exhaustion. Because I’ve been there before, and it’s just not worth it. So I try to remember to eat good food, be with the best people and switch of.

Where did your desire to be a fashioner designer come from?

Hmm. As a kid I used to love taking things apart, to understand how they were made. For example I would take my parents old PC and methodically start unscrewing all components until you almost couldn’t identify the object anymore. I loved to draw from early on, but more something like fairies and mystical creatures. Growing up surrounded by beautiful nature and so close to the sea, having a wild imagination was almost a given.
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I guess I always liked the idea of textuality and exploring the way things work. And then being a teenager and getting into “fashion” trying to imitate looks I’ve seen in music videos. Cutting up t-shirts or alternating them on my mom’s old sewing machine to get the right look for the weekend disco’s. Which progressed into buying fashion magazines and becoming fascinated with the industry, enough so that was the only place I wanted to be.

What do you love about your profession? And what are the struggles you are facing in your profession?

I love that you can have fun with this job, that you can get surprised even by yourself by how your mind works. You can start out at one point creating something on the dummy, then it goes in a completely different direction and before you know you’ve ended in a place that you didn’t expect, and also couldn’t have forseen if you don’t allow yourself to experiment in the first place.
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What I dislike about my profession, it’s difficult to run fast enough to make it work. There are great highs and great lows, and it can take a toll. I think it is important to value the people around you, cause the alternative just ain’t good enough.
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What was the most challenging part of the pandemic for you so far? And what the best?

Seeing how many people has been left behind and disregarded. The world is in a bad state. And it is very challenging to know how much opposition there is to actually try to change that. But then the best is that it is actually possible to push back and that people are sick and tired too.

How do you stay focused and concentrated?

I’m definitely not all the time able to focus — my mind likes to wander. And quite often it goes miles before I maybe even realized that I’m somewhere else. But being organized and knowing that if you don’t do it, no one will is a pretty good reminder to come back and finish what you started.

What does being present mean to you?

It’s interesting because the present doesn’t really exist. Everything we see and experience in the so called now is already in the past. The light that bounces of surfaces takes time to reach you, so everything what we see is already old. So being present in your mind is as close to being in the now that we can. I grew up with my parents that are cute esoteric hippies, so meditation and the power of your mind was pretty much a part of my life from the get go ☺

What is your advice to get confident and have a fresh restart after a bad day?

I can only say what works for me: Going for a walk, (try to) think about something else, and then talk to someone. A partner, friends or family. Talk through whatever your fears and doubts are and start seeing it from a different perspective. Most of the time that's the push I need to keep going forward.

Thank you, Sia!