Barbara í Gongini

Barbara í Gongini (born June 12, 1966) is a Faroese-Danish avant-garde fashion designer from Fuglafjørður, Faroe Islands.[1]

Barbara í Gongini
Born (1966-06-12) 12 June 1966
Fuglafjørður, Faroe Islands
NationalityFaroese, Danish
EducationDanish School of Design, Institute of Unica Design
Label(s)
BARBARA I GONGINI, The Black Line, norðan by BARBARA I GONGINI
AwardsFaroese Cultural Prize, 2018

Early life and education

Barbara í Gongini is a Faroese avant-garde fashion designer who was born in Fuglafjørður and grew up in the old part of Tórshavn, the capital city of the Faroe Islands.[2] As a child, she always had an inclination for the arts and design,[3] which led her to study painting, art and textile construction, graduating in 1990.

Gongini completed her design education at Denmark's School of Design, at the Institute of Unica Design, in 1996.[4]

Growing up with the values of the Faroe Islands, a small community that places focus on using the most of raw natural resources, influenced Gongini's approach to fashion, inspiring her to create designs that are rich in multi-functional elements, so that they can be reused and transformed.[5]

Fashion design career

Gongini's first clothing collection was made from fabric residue and launched in 2000, when she was still part of the Könrøg movement.[6] Könrøg was an artist collective formed by 10 Danish artists between 2001-2006, in response to the Antwerp Six designer collective that existed in the ‘80s.[7]

In the early 2000s, she was also part of the team behind the Könrøg clothing store in Copenhagen, which at the time was known as the capital’s most hip shop with Danish designer clothes and Alternative fashion,[8] for those who dared to stand out.[9] Gongini stopped working for Könrøg in 2004 in order to focus on her design career, while the store closed down two year later, in 2006.[7]

In 2005, Gongini established her namesake label, with the brand name stylised as BARBARA I GONGINI.[10] In the early days, the BARBARA I GONGINI collections were created for both men and women, focusing on androgyny and multifunctionality. The menswear line only became separate starting with the Autumn/Winter 2013 collection, which was presented at the Copenhagen Fashion Week.[11]

BARBARA I GONGINI AW2016 Men's Collection

In her fashion designs, she makes extensive use of draping and layering techniques, often creating asymmetrical garments that can be worn in multiple ways. Juxtaposition and deconstruction play a central part, with Gongini predominantly using black and non-colors ‘to allow fabrics and textures to speak as color instead’.[3] She combines a variety of natural and recycled textiles, sometimes mixing several types of materials, such as wool, leather, cotton and plastic, in a single garment.[12] Gongini's leather garments are often treated to give a dramatic texture that is reminiscent of the Faroese landscape.[13] Her designs are available at the BARBARA I GONGINI headquarters showroom in Copenhagen and in specialized avant-garde clothing stores worldwide. Gongini's avant-garde design philosophy means that the collections are not trend-based, but focus on ‘nurturing a longevity formula’.[3] She often compares her collections to new chapters to turn to in a story, describing them as ‘numerical’.[14] As a proponent of the zero-waste wardrobe, she seeks to lengthen the life-cycle of garments through innovative designs called ‘multiways’. [4]

BARBARA I GONGINI AW2016 Women's Collection

Although her fashion collections integrate sustainability principles and she has been said to be ‘ahead of her time when it comes to sustainability’,[13] Gongini is known for making exceptions ‘if a few materials do not quite meet the standards’, in order not to compromise on design.[15] Nominated for the Danish Fashion Award Committee's Ethical Award in 2010, she was also selected to represent Denmark at the Nordic Eco Fashion and Product Design Exhibition in Berlin.[16]

Her runway collections were first shown at the Paris Fashion Week in 2017. At this time, she also presented the film MODULE MODULAR, a video collaboration with director and photographer Mikkel Völcker.[17]

In 2018, Barbara í Gongini was awarded the Faroese Cultural Prize, the highest distinction that a person of culture can receive in the Faroe Islands.

Artistic collaborations

During her career, Gongini has been an active participant in the Nordic art discourse,[4] joining interdisciplinary collaborations showcased around the world. Notable examples include “The Weather Diaries”, an exhibition which was part of the third Nordic Fashion Biennale, shown at the Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt [18] and the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle, Washington,[19] and “Outer Dark”, a collaboration that saw her work exhibited next to household avant-garde fashion names such as Yohji Yamamoto, Martin Margiela and Alexander McQueen.[20]

Barbara I Gongini's designs have been spotted on celebrities such as Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine, in her 2012 music video for Never Let Me Go, as well as on Lenny Kravitz, Rihanna and Chelsea Wolfe[21]

References
  1. Deutschland, Dänemark in. "Die Modedesigner". Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  2. Saalmink, Marlo (13 June 2014). "A Laconic Journey With Barbara I Gongini". The Kinsky. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  3. Lawson, Kate (1 May 2014). "Barbara I Gongini: Nordic by Nature". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  4. Di Boscio, Chere. "The Rebel Heart of Designer Barbara I Gongini". Eluxe Magazine. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  5. "Untitled". Dash Magazine. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018. ... Growing up with those values, of making the most out of what is given and these limitation, shaped logic towards creating designs that are rich in multi-functional elements, ...'
  6. "Untitled". Dash Magazine. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  7. "Anna og modebæstet" [Anna and Fashion Boasted] (in Danish). 13 September 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2018. ... Könrøg eksisterede fra 2001 til 2006 og havde butik i Hyskenstræde i det indre København. ...'
  8. Sherwood, Seth (12 June 2005). "GOING TO Copenhagen". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  9. "Bolig uden lige" [Housing without equal] (in Danish). 2 December 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2018. ... Könrøg, der var hovedstadens absolut hippeste butik med dansk designertøj, til dem der turde skille sig ud, ...'
  10. Kristinsdóttir, Signý (10 August 2014). "Gender Neutrality by BARBARA I GONGINI". Nordic Style Mag. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  11. Káradóttir, Marta (13 April 2013). "Nordic Avant-Garde: BARBARA I GONGINI". Nordic Style Mag. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  12. Ladinger, Andrea. "Woll Couture: Färöische Mode" [Wool couture: Faroese fashion] (in German). Norr Magazin. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  13. Maanmies, My. "Barbara I Gongini: Nordic Avant-Garde in Silence". Metal Magazine. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  14. Cao, Alexander (6 May 2015). "Barbara I Gongini Autumn/Winter 2015". Deuxhommes. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  15. Ströbele, Carolin (31 August 2009). "Die Dogma-Schneiderinnen" [The Dogma Tailors] (in German). Zeit. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  16. "Barbara I Gongini". Eco Fashion Talk. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  17. "DISCOVER BARBARA I GONGINI: A NORDIC BRAND YOU NEED TO KNOW". Hunger TV. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  18. "The Weather Diaries. 3rd Nordic Fashion Biennale" (in German). Form. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  19. "Nordic Heritage Museum casts edgy 'Weather Diaries' exhibit". The Seattle Times. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  20. "Outer Dark. Continuing after Fashion". 13 June 2013. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  21. Weiss, Alexandra. "Chelsea Wolfe Gets Deep". Bullett Magazine. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
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