Staged Fashion – Designed Identities

You’ve surely heard of Yohio, Army of Lovers, The Knife, and Roger Pontare. Perhaps, however, you’re not quite as aware of Katarina de Bourg, Bella Rune and Sarah Mårskog? At the ‘Staged Fashion – Designed Identities’ exhibition, visitors are able to meet the designers who created the stage clothing of some of Sweden’s most colourful artists and bands.

Stage clothing plays a large part in a show. It has to be not only nice-looking, but a tool for artists when they enter their role. A good stage costume assists them in radiating the energy needed to captivate their audience. Ordinarily, it is the artist and their music that are in focus; here, we go backstage, to have a closer look at how the clothing is created, along with its designers.

What emerge are various collaborations between designers and artists, and sometimes the process involves mutual inspiration from one another’s work. One participant mentions the telepathic communication that emerges during sketching, the artist is quite practically assisted in realising their vision. What is common to all participants, however, is that stage costumes are seen as an important aspect of a larger synthesis of the arts.

There are innumerable approaches to the creation of an exhibition about the stage clothing of musicians. Here, we have chosen to focus on contemporary artists who are active in Swedish pop music. Can the stories of their costumes make us reflect on our own vanity; when we ourselves dress to enter the stage of everyday life? How do we use clothes to improve the atmosphere, convey meaning, or strengthen or protect our own selves? Do we want to create a sense of belonging to a group, or stand out from the crowd?

The stage clothing of eight musical artists or groups is presented in the exhibition. Some design their own clothes, while others employ external designers. Any given collaboration between a designer and an artist can look very different from others; some have lasted for many years while others have just begun, some are short-term and others are said to be for life. The clothes displayed are original costumes. They have been used and, in some cases, worn on stage. Now we have taken them back to the studio. All are welcome to go backstage!

Stage clothing from the following designers and musicians is displayed in the exhibiton: Camilla Thulin/Army of Lovers, Bella Rune/The Knife, Paulina Wallenberg-Olsson/Wallenberg & Grebnellaw-Nosslo Anilaup, Pia Sandström/Jenny Wilson, Katarina De Bourg/Yohio, The Hives/The Hives, Sarah Mårskog/Roger Pontare, Diana Orving/Kajsa Grytt.