THE SWEDISH STANDARD
Products
- Dunderdon | Gothenburg
With much of the fanfare surrounding Japanese and American heritage workwear dominating the fashion media outlets, it’s easy to forget that other countries have heritages as rich and fruitful as their better-known competitors — Sweden being one of them. Bringing a typical Scandinavian, stripped-down take on functional wear, Dunderdon was founded by carpenter Per-Ivan Hagberg on the premise of creating distinct clothing that could also stand up to the demands of various workplaces of Scandinavian tradesmen. Launched in 1997 with a single pair of pants, that quickly became the national standard for builders and craftsmen, Hagberg eventually built on that success into a full collection for both men and women. We caught up with Hagberg quickly in between designing this season’s newest knits, sweaters, and outerwear.
The Savile: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your life before Dunderdon?
Per-Ivan: My training is as a carpenter. U used to build houses and my first exposure to the apparel industry came leater when I was recruited as a model. I did that for a couple of years, then became an agent for a denim brand being run by a good friend of mine. That’s where I started to design clothing, during this time, I was also doing shop build outs, furniture and interiors as well as inventing new machines and gadgets. In 1996, I started to think about launching my own brand. The goal was to make a timeless pant built on quality, function and simplicity. So on June 6th, 1997, I delivered my first products and it’s still what I do today.
The Savile: You founded Dunderdon on work wear, well before its resurgence in modern day America. What do you think of this resurgence? What about work wear in general inspired you to base Dunderdon around it?
Per-Ivan: Fashion will always return to work wear because it is based on function. Historically, work wear, sport and military is where all innovation has taken place and that’s why I feel these elements will always influence fashion. There will be periods of decadence, but people will always return to things that have authentic purpose. Dunderdon was founded on this belief.
The Savile: We've heard that each piece from the line has a specific purpose with no "fillers" to round out a collection. Are people still using Dunderdon to work in, or has it become more of a fashion brand now? Is there a difference between how people are using it Sweden versus the U.S.?
Per-Ivan: Each piece has a purpose in the collection, but the main thing is that we don’t put anything on the product that doesn’t have a specific function. We have two collections – a work wear line and a fashion line. In Sweden, work wear is about half our sales and fashion accounts for the other half. In the USA, it’s mostly fashion, however the work wear is available at your New York store and will be available in our Portland store opening this spring.
The Savile: Could you tell us a little bit about how you go about picking the materials you're choosing and your manufacturing?
Per-Ivan: We don’t have a wide variety of fabrics in the collection. What we do have is high quality, durable pieces that we feel offers good value. In work wear, we just launched a jacket and pant using vantage – an incredibly durable yet comfortable fabric that’s a mix of cordura and cotton. We’re also experimenting with more sustainable fabrics such as fleece made from recycled coffee grounds. In the fashion collection, we have a F/W 2011 jacket using ventile fabric from England. The jacket has removable air vest that you can inflate to stay warm.
The Savile: Are you putting your own pieces to the test and working outdoors with them?
Per-Ivan: Yes, I review and test all pieces in the collection myself and we also have a ‘test patrol’ for all work wear pieces. I’m still very involved in the day-to-day operation - acting as the design director for both the fashion and work wear collections. And there’s actually a lot of things that I can apply to clothing design from my past skills and background as a carpenter. Both are problem-solving efforts and in both, you’re always looking for simple, elegant solutions.
www.dunderdon.com
The Savile: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your life before Dunderdon?
Per-Ivan: My training is as a carpenter. U used to build houses and my first exposure to the apparel industry came leater when I was recruited as a model. I did that for a couple of years, then became an agent for a denim brand being run by a good friend of mine. That’s where I started to design clothing, during this time, I was also doing shop build outs, furniture and interiors as well as inventing new machines and gadgets. In 1996, I started to think about launching my own brand. The goal was to make a timeless pant built on quality, function and simplicity. So on June 6th, 1997, I delivered my first products and it’s still what I do today.
The Savile: You founded Dunderdon on work wear, well before its resurgence in modern day America. What do you think of this resurgence? What about work wear in general inspired you to base Dunderdon around it?
Per-Ivan: Fashion will always return to work wear because it is based on function. Historically, work wear, sport and military is where all innovation has taken place and that’s why I feel these elements will always influence fashion. There will be periods of decadence, but people will always return to things that have authentic purpose. Dunderdon was founded on this belief.
The Savile: We've heard that each piece from the line has a specific purpose with no "fillers" to round out a collection. Are people still using Dunderdon to work in, or has it become more of a fashion brand now? Is there a difference between how people are using it Sweden versus the U.S.?
Per-Ivan: Each piece has a purpose in the collection, but the main thing is that we don’t put anything on the product that doesn’t have a specific function. We have two collections – a work wear line and a fashion line. In Sweden, work wear is about half our sales and fashion accounts for the other half. In the USA, it’s mostly fashion, however the work wear is available at your New York store and will be available in our Portland store opening this spring.
The Savile: Could you tell us a little bit about how you go about picking the materials you're choosing and your manufacturing?
Per-Ivan: We don’t have a wide variety of fabrics in the collection. What we do have is high quality, durable pieces that we feel offers good value. In work wear, we just launched a jacket and pant using vantage – an incredibly durable yet comfortable fabric that’s a mix of cordura and cotton. We’re also experimenting with more sustainable fabrics such as fleece made from recycled coffee grounds. In the fashion collection, we have a F/W 2011 jacket using ventile fabric from England. The jacket has removable air vest that you can inflate to stay warm.
The Savile: Are you putting your own pieces to the test and working outdoors with them?
Per-Ivan: Yes, I review and test all pieces in the collection myself and we also have a ‘test patrol’ for all work wear pieces. I’m still very involved in the day-to-day operation - acting as the design director for both the fashion and work wear collections. And there’s actually a lot of things that I can apply to clothing design from my past skills and background as a carpenter. Both are problem-solving efforts and in both, you’re always looking for simple, elegant solutions.
www.dunderdon.com