The Norwegian Festival 2008 is just around the corner, and the focus this year is on Norwegian fashion design. We have invited three of Norway’s best known designers of street- and sportswear, and some original design wear from Kari Traa AS, Moods of Norway, Appaman and Napapijri will be distributed during the raffle.
Kari Traa recently won the award for Design Excellence from the Norwegian Design Council. One of Norway’s most beloved athletes and a Olympic gold medal winner, Kari Traa, decided to enter the fashion industry in 2002 and has done so with great success. Her fashion collections consists of stylish sportswear and outdoorsy street wear for women.
Moods of Norway is a Norwegian fashion institution. In 2007, a Norwegian newspaper named founder of Moods of Norway, Simon Stålnacke, the most influential man in Norway. Their unpretentious, vividly colored collections jokingly refers to traditional Norwegian culture, while being cutting edge at the same time. The designers often bring their margarita making Brendoped bicycle to their shows, and they name all their designs after people from Stryn, the home of the Moods founders as well as some of Norway’s most beautiful fjords and mountains.
Appaman is a children’s fashion brand made famous by it’s appeal to celebrity parents in the US. Creator Harald Husum left Norway for Brooklyn in 2003, and has made funky children’s clothes for both a American and Norwegian marked ever since. Using “Give your kid some street cred, wear Appaman” as their tagline, the Brooklyn inspired streetwear became very popular among high profile Hollywood parents and trendy New Yorkers alike.
Last but not least, the Italian brand Napapijri – using the Norwegian flag on their sportswear – will be presented at the festival.
These brands differ in style, but are equally inspired by a mixture of traditional and contemporary Norwegian elements. During the Norwegian Festival, the designs will be worn by volunteers and given away to some lucky raffle ticket holders.
The Central Park based Norwegian Festival, now in it’s 14th year, has not forgotten those with a hankering for the fjords. This year’s event will also include several running races for adults and kids and the Norwegian Seaman’s Church will be making their infamous waffles. There will be musical appearances by the traditional folk music duo Feleboga, Brooklyn-native Catherine Springer and her folk dancers will join in, and as the grand finale, Norway’s pop sensation Sondre Lerche will play on the beautiful Bandshell stonestage.