“Minna Palmqvist keeps claiming that the female body is not yours to judge”. This is a line that brings together the inspiration, motive and general ethos of Minna Palmqvist’s label. Launched in 2009 as a continuation from her Masters Degree project, which she titled “Intimately Social”, Palmqvist has blended together social commentary, high-end fashion and sophisticated art to embellish the female body and show it the way it’s supposed to be.

Whilst studying at the Konstfack College Of Arts in Stockholm, Sweden, Palmqvist created the “Intimately Social” project as a means of challenging the conventional fashion seasons and exploring the socially accepted view, and realistic views of the female body. The result of which has become one of the most versatile fashion labels to come out of Europe.

Each collection that Palmqvist produces shares the female body in different ways. Some seem to focus on it’s femininity, some on it’s plainness and simplicity. In her Spring/Summer 2014 collection, we see Palmqvists eye switch to an issue that every women seems to have when diving down to the depths of her wardrobe.

The Palmqvist SS14 collection is derived from the tough awareness that nothing in a women's wardrobe, or in women’s stores frames their body. Whether you scouring the racks of a boutique or digging down to the bottom of your pant’s draw, there will always be one item of clothing that we discover doesn’t fit our body. Palmqvist has explored that experience and filled her collection with uniquely shaped pieces that simply fall or hug the model’s body.

By using different models of different shapes and sizes in her lookbook, she has already addressed the issue in a very real way. Many women find the ill-fitting clothing and to have those women model the clothing emphasizes the collections inspiration all the more. With some pieces, like the glossy skirts, hugging the body and others, like many of the blouses, hanging off organically, the SS collection seems to mix the ideas of strength in the tighter pieces and decay in the looser pieces.

The garments also capture the experience of finding lost items in amongst the rest of your clothing. With some garments bursting at their seams, others sitting very loosely on the model’s frame show the variety of clothing many women will find that don’t seem to fit their body. This contrast of pieces again emphasizes the expectations that society has placed on the female body, one of fitted and stylized beauty, the other of loose rawness.

With a very simple colour palette of whites, creams, pale yellows and maroons, the SS14 collection also has very minimalistic qualities making things seem simple and easier to take in. With this entire motive behind the collection, one can’t help but appreciate it.

http://www.minnapalmqvist.com

Words / Lauren Payne