From the Series
In 2015, Swedish fashion brand HI ON LIFE (H.O.L) moved from Malmö to Accra, Ghana to establish itself as a brand with a sustainable production cycle. Founder of the brand, Malin Busck heads up the company’s design team and drives its philosophy of socially and environmentally responsible fashion design. The soon-to-be-released H.O.L 2.0.2 collection is its second capsule designed and made in Ghana.
The collection pays homage to the brand’s new home as the designs reference Ghanaian culture based on their experiences at local weddings, parties, funerals and time spent in Accra’s busy streets. These experiences impact heavily on the choice of materials in the collection, which is comprised of indigenous patterning and bold prints.
H.O.L places great importance on the fact that each item of clothing in the collection has been made in collaboration with local tailors and artisans from the neighbourhood of Labadi in Accra. The brand points out that Ghana’s rich tailoring and textile heritage is suffering due to the cheap, mass-manufactured imports that flood the market and leave local artisans without work.
With H.O.L, the aim is to create a circular economy where independent tailors are hired to create a piece upon request. This method cancels out waste caused by overproduction and allows for customisation and personal alterations.
From a style point of the view, the brand describes the new H.O.L 2.0.2 collection as “street couture with a fusion of Scandinavian clean cuts and African bold prints and applications”.
The H.O.L 2.0.2 collection will be showcased at the Fashion UP! festival in Gothenburg on 19 March 2016.
