“Rammagerðir’s artistic director, Auður Gná, approached me when she was starting to work on changes to the overall look of Rammagerðir,” says Hilda Gunnarsdóttir, who designs under the Milla Snorrason label.
"I have to say that I think the changes have been incredibly successful. The frame shop has completely changed and has become such a gorgeous store that beautifully supports Icelandic design."
“They initially took my sweaters with faces on them, which I designed in collaboration with artist and friend Sarah Gillies almost ten years ago. The face is based on an oil painting by her. The sweaters hadn’t been on sale for a while because I was on a study break that turned into maternity leave. The collaboration then evolved into me designing a blanket with the face on it, which was really fun because I’ve wanted to try putting a face on a blanket for a long time. The colors in the blanket appealed to people so they at Rammagerðinn asked me to implement them in the sweaters as well,” explains Hilda. She says that she found it very good and important to work with Icelandic wool and have the garments produced in Iceland.
“This was actually the main reason I designed the sweaters in the first place. I felt like there needed to be a slightly more cheerful version of the Icelandic fleece sweater, and I wanted to design garments that were designed and made in Iceland and made from Icelandic materials. That desire perhaps came partly from considerations about the environmental impact of clothing, animal welfare, and wanting to gain a good insight into the circumstances of the people who are responsible for production. Also and no less important is to participate in supporting Icelandic industry, because if designers stop producing in Iceland, then of course production will not be able to sustain itself.”
