Interview with designer Majbritt Giezendanner from løndstrupp

Shooting star of the Swiss design scene, newcomer at Berlin Fashion Week in the Green Showroom and just recently with a style portrait in Bolero magazine - Majbritt Giezendanner fascinates and inspires as a person as well as with her designs. Biomazing interviewed the Swiss designer with Danish roots.

Biomazing: Dear Majbritt, thank you for taking the time to do an interview with us! We are big fans of løndstrupp and the Nordic-inspired style. What is it that inspires you?

MG: The beauty that is obvious in nature or only recognisable at second glance inspires me: a walk on the beach after a heavy storm, or the autumn coloured forest with the most beautiful shades of green, brown or red.

 

Biomazing: How important are ethical sourcing and sustainable materials to you?

MG: These features are an integral part of the high quality of løndstrupp and are therefore of crucial importance to me. I source the leather from a small leather manufacturer in Tuscany and it is vegetable-dyed. Harmful toxins such as chrome for tanning are strictly avoided, as are long transport routes.
Part of this is also ensuring that everyone involved in the value chain receives fair working conditions and wages. This has the advantage that every link in the chain is happy to contribute to a beautiful, high-quality product.

 

Biomazing: As a designer for løndstrupp, how can you check these production requirements?

MG: I know the tannery in Tuscany, its premises and working process. It is a family business that has been producing the best quality in line with its principles for 200 years. This also includes fair working conditions. My manufactory in St. Gallen, where the bags are sewn by hand, is also a family business. It is important to me to keep production in Switzerland, as this supports the local economy and society, ensures short transport routes and at the same time promotes a traditional craft. The craftspeople are paid directly by løndstrupp, so we have fairness in our own hands and can vouch for it.

 

Biomazing: løndstrupp has become a favourite among bag lovers since the launch of the first collection and you can also be found at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Berlin as part of the Green Showroom. What trends can you observe in this new movement in the fashion scene?

MG: At Berlin Fashion Week, I will be presenting my new designs as part of the Green Showroom. This is dedicated to high fashion that is produced exclusively according to ecological and social aspects. There I was able to observe that young designers are not primarily pursuing financial goals, but are focussing on social and ecological values and also want to give their products a personal touch. Modern design tells a story and is rooted in its origins. This gives each piece personality and explains why sustainable and fair production is so important to us.

 

Biomazing: You told us about your production criteria and what designers incorporate into their creations. What is it that makes løndstrupp special?

MG: I try to create bags that are characterised by robustness, simplicity, elegance and quality. Each bag is a kind of craftsmanship and each model is inspired by the Viking Age, evoking images of rough, windswept seas and wildly swirling ship ropes. The interplay of masculine form and yet feminine elegance of each bag is what characterises løndstrupp.

 

Biomazing: What we particularly like about the bags from løndstrupp is that the leather "lives" and changes over time. Can you explain this process a little?

MG: The gentle, purely plant-based refinement of the leather according to a tried and tested recipe gives the leather a fascinating colour and surface structure. The older the leather, the more beautiful it becomes. This process takes some time. On contact with moisture or under the influence of the sun, the leather darkens irregularly at first until the patina has closed. This is proof of the quality and authenticity of consistently natural leather.

 

Biomazing: Thank you very much for this exciting interview and the insights into løndstrupp, Majbritt! We wish you every success for the upcoming Fashion Week in Berlin!

 

 

More information: Website, Facebook page, løndstrupp on Biomazing
Photo credit: londstrupp.com and Bolero Magazine