Eco Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2012: SVENSK

Think bow-crazed Blair Waldorf meets Swedish hipster, and you pretty much sum up the aesthetic of emerging Swedish knitwear label SVENSK in a nutshell. Founded by Diana Svensk in 2008, the line's humble origins lay in the knit hats that Svensk used to make for friends and family as a teenager. One of her girlish chapeaux caught the eye of a store who placed a large order. Realizing she was on to something, Svensk founded her eponymous label, expanding her offerings to mittens, cardigans, socks, scarves, and sweater dresses.

Made from 100% alpaca wool, SVENSK's fall/winter 2012 collection was sweet, cozy, and unabashedly whimsical. The simplistic palette of grey, red, pink, black, and navy blue underlined the half-preppy, half-hipster aesthetic. Myriad bows fluttered on cardigans and scarves, or from the tops of mittens and socks, like dozens of knit butterflies. A tiered gray poncho, and scarf and sweater dress set with trompe l'oeil hearts, deviated from the bow-adorned norm. Knitwear aside, SVENSK also showed a small handful of tailored wool coats and print dresses.

My favourite piece in the show was the short-sleeved peplum sweater: so on-trend and wearable, and let's face it, just plain adorable.

All photos in this post by Wayne Mah.

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