Despite being born in Stockholm (1982) and displaying a strong sense of Scandinavian aestheticism, Julia Hederus appears to have been very keen to escape her native Sweden as quickly as possible. Firstly by moving to Denmark to study art at Holbæk Art School and going on to gain a degree in fashion at Kolding Design School, then moving to London to study menswear at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design before collaborating with Los Angeles based K-Swiss.
Having been inspired by the classic Danish toy brand Lego, the clothes in Hederus’s debut show at London Fashion Week in 2007 had been cut into rectangular box shapes before being carefully glued back together. Part of the collection included three trainers that had been developed in collaboration with K-Swiss and have subsequently gone into production. High Block, Block and Cube are based on the K-Swiss Original (first designed in 1966) but have all been highly modified to include Hederus’s trademark building blocks together with some innovative touches such as removable Velcro-backed panels. Menswear, sport and transformability have long been essential to Hederus and are still areas that the designer believes will take fashion forward.
“Shoes are very different from clothes, and architecture has always been a great inspiration for me in fashion. So to design trainers feels even more natural. I often imagine very complex and futuristic shapes”
Having now established her own studio, Julia Hederus recently presented her A/W 09 collection entitled Kites at the +46 fashion show in Stockholm and is currently working on second collaboration with K-Swiss. While we wait to see her new lookbook, take a look below at her previous collection and the results of the Hederus For K-Swiss collaboration:
Hederus for K-Swiss
High Block: The classic K-Swiss Original (first designed in 1966) transformed by Hederus into a high top version and then updated to include functional Velcro/backed building blocks that can be added or removed depending on taste.
Blocks: A low top K-Swizz classic modified to include Hederus’s trademark building blocks, that also happen to cleverly hide the laces to create an overall sleek yet angular look.
Cubes: K-Swiss Classic again but this time with a twist. Hederus has disrupted the usual detailing of the structural grid on either side the shoe to create something of a visual conundrum.
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