by Omi
Fashion Scout has a strong history of providing platforms for up and coming designers that want a foothold in London. So new and exciting is nothing new if you are at a fashion scout show. But now and then new and exciting is backed up by substantive and visionary and that is what EDDA is. New, exciting, substantive and a visionary all right now, all in the making.
EDDA is the brainchild of Norwegian designer Edda Gimnes who by any measure is a prototype of a well to do, design award-winning fashion creative. But that is where any cookie-cutter comparison ends, as unlike a lot of well-to-do-fashion-creatives her work stands out not only as a substantive exploration into the dissection of color but also a general philosophy of levity that is often missing from relatively new designers understanding of functional aesthetics.
EDDA's presentation during London Fashion Week came with the added blessing of Lanvin's former creative director Alber Elbaz who mentored Edda after presenting her with the German Designer for Tomorrow award last year. So EDDA as a brand had a guiding hand most new designers would love to have as they start off on their journey of world exploration and in Edda's case outright world domination.
EDDA's SS18 presentation had many elements to swoon over. And there seems to be a natural progression toward what really works for her look from hand-drawn sketches to patterns soaked in color. When she presented her SS17 during Oslo Runway last year her potential was undeniable but there were some polish, some collective narrative missing from the mix. No such assessment can be made about this collection as it takes all the right ideas and aesthetics into one singular narrative and produces a mature, polished yet youthful and casually edgy look. Edda's clothes seem to know that fashion which takes itself too seriously is bound to lose out and that sort of clarity is expected from a Tom Ford but for such a young designer that sort of clarity is both astounding and refreshing.
EDDA's collection as a whole has some deeply satisfying hues that worked quite well with the patterns and her time with Manuel Vadillo puts her in great company. Patterns complemented by 50s silhouettes is exceptionally well done and worthy of both creative praise and commercial investment. The pantsuit with its delicately soaked colors of the lightest blue is probably the most conventional piece of work in her collection and even that has a deconstructive element attached to it. Taking every variable into account, EDDA's collection is on par with all the heavy hitters we have seen in the last two weeks from New York to London, from Tom Ford to Gareth Pugh.
Visually intoxicating, intellectually present and commercially viable are rarely in the same room together yet during this presentation of EDDA, they were front row. It is a formative collection from a designer who knows her boundaries and pushes them; who knows the levity of fashion and embraces it and provides a narrative like it is an uplifting Norwegian novel. And like an uplifting Norwegian novel, EDDA's presentation is rare, much appreciated and a shot of genius.
