V Factor

>> "A point was reached where we needed to stop and reflect. Reflect upon what we stand for, what we truly love and why we‚Äôre doing this. It‚Äôs been months of soul searching and endless conversations, resulting in a new profile and a clear message, together with the most thorough and true collection we have ever presented."

A label rethink is what Swedish label Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair has done.  Well, actually it's now V Ave Shoe Repair and at its most pared down form, V AVE S R.  It's not just about playing around with Roman numerals and initials though.  From V AVE SR's (I think I'll stick to the full name when saying it in my head) latest collection shown at Stockholm Fashion Week, they have made a real divide between statement 'atelier' pieces that for a while didn't have a show outlet and their more commercial offering.  In my little interview with them above, designers Astrid Olsson and Lee Cotter (also a couple) said they had reconciled with the fact that they have embraced fashion and that they are FASHION designers.  It sounds like a bit of a strange thing to say considering they have won a few accolades since their beginnings in 2006, have opened a few stores and have gained quite a following.  Their original mainstay of draping jersey on mannequin and structured tailoring did perhaps stray off topic along the way but now with a spanking new website, a hometurf show and a name change, V Ave Shoe Repair get a bit of a system reboot.  

V Ave Shoe Repair Atelier got the spotlight at the show last week where strong silhouettes inspired by the inkblots of Rorschach.  Fellow innovative Swede, Sandra Backlund also looked at Rorschach inkblots for her stir-making collection, with a very different result.  V Ave Shoe Repair really took the hardness of the inkblot edges and recreated them with mesh circling the body as well as handcrafted wood that echoed the sound and construction of a wooden castanet.  There'll be a niche demand for those pieces one that V Ave Shoe Repair should encourage in its Atelier strand of work but take them off and underneath are pieces in jersey, washed leather as well as more interesting fabrics such as latex (seen in the menswear) that form their more commercial component which will obviously be expanded when it actually hits the rails.