Hodakova ss23

Ellen Hodakova Larsson, an emerging Swedish designer, and someone I’ve been looking at for quite some time since her debut collection back in 2021. Since then she’s crafted her own style and body of work that is almost medieval like. Now three seasons in, she has brought about another amazing collection with the return of her signature pieces.

One of them being woven belts, but this time around they are used to create an hourglass shape which she uses throughout the collection to show this constructed, deconstructed look.

The opening look which is made from mens leather shoe uppers conforms the dress to the body to make its shape which is a very big theme within the collection. Shape.

Hodakova also uses vintage garments, which have been a recurring theme in her work as seen in last season's collection with the use of wristwatches being used as belts and bracelets. For this collection she introduces the use of letters and letter writing, seen in looks 3, 5, and 15, with the models wearing letter envelopes as earrings. She also worked vintage envelopes into a dress, seen in look 25 & 30. When talking about this piece to Vogue she states, the collection was a “kind of reflection of the time you give yourself; I see it as a written letter from myself to myself.” 

Also, like I stated earlier this collection seemed take a big theme on shape and the element of deconstruction with many of the looks being made from one material and repurposed as another. For instance, in looks 6, 26, & 31, the dresses are made up of bras which create this lumpy shape which is reminiscent of comme de garçons ss97 “lumps and bumps” collection. Also, with use of repurposing pieces, models wore the medal underwire of the bras as earrings. One of my favorite looks from the collection was the textural dress made up of scrap fabric used to give this voluminous shape and the dresses made from belts turned on their sides.

The different shapes, use of texture and the techniques used to create these pieces were absolutely amazing! I loved everything about this collection.