Office for Form and Contexture is a multidisciplinary design office situated in Oslo.
With a large network of creative professionals we work together to explore form in
contemporary contexts.
For our first project we wanted to develop and launch a concept for a new Norwegian
luxury brand.
This project consist of five parts:
An exhibition to promote an upcoming showcase of the brands first AW2018
collection; Production and showcase of the new AW2018 catwalk collection as an
official part of the Oslo Runway program; Collaboration with director Kasper
Häggström to produce and shoot a short film to promote the brand; Launching of the
brand at F5 Concept Store in collaboration with Battery Black Edition; and a second
showcase of a new collection for the SS2019 season as part of Oslo Runway Bik Bok
Runway Award, featured in Vogue.
The aim for this project was to develop new knowledge in the field of visual
communication, strategy and digital design.
Exhibition
For this part of the project the idea was explore the traditional advertisement
campaign, to promote the upcoming AW2018 collection. By investigating the body and
self-identify we wanted to raise questions about how advertisement influence thoughts
on self-image and ideal beauty.
By questing and undressing three models
we explored their bodies with the camera, resulting in three video portraits and two
cropped photographies. The campaing was presented as an exhibition in the main
gallery at Oslo National Academy of the Arts. With music compsed by the musical duo
KJUKE, the exhibition explored the physical space in which the AW2018 showcase would
take place.
Our campaing was presented as an exhibition in the main gallery at Oslo National
Academy of the Arts. This was the location for the upcoming show and through this
exhibition we wanted to explore the physical space.
The musical duo KJUKE composed a special soundrack for the exhibition which was the
beginning of O—F—C’s musical exploration and a teaser for the AW2018 show:
Credits: Eirik Aronsson, Ilavenil Jayapalan, Jenni Friis Bjørgli, Julie Herstad Øvrelid,
Jørn Aagaard, Lina Knudsen, Ole Thomas Steinde, Reinert Berg Sortland, Øyvind Ruud,
Annikken Wilhelmsen and Desi Schneegans.
AW18
The production and showcase of the AW2018 collection was done as part of the official
Oslo Runway program. The visual design of the show was set up to separate the
audience in three different groups, the main room, back room and outside the main
gallery areas. Seeing the models move through different rooms the audience could
follow the models through go-pro cameras connected to flatscreen televisions.
«The collection examines classical menswear such as tailoring,
streetwear, knitwear and sportswear. By looking at the needs within a wardrobe we
attempt to create archetypal pieces. O—F—C seek to design clothes for a consistent,
seasonless way of buying clothes, and to see how form adopt in different textures.
Garments are not reinvented, but rather idealized through an exploration of
contemporary utilitarian functionalism.»
The artistic research behind the
collection is looking at how the industrial revolution created ideals and set
standards for the human body by creating a standard sizing system in order to produce
affordable clothes. The shape of a garment relates to the shape of the body which
makes all bodies ideal and garments inconsistent. This concept was also explored in
the casting of the models for the show.
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o-f-c_aw18_show_sountrack_by_kjuke.mp3
Credits: Axel Enqvist, Bamidale Badejo, Belina Østerli, Blair Todd, Dahir Doni, Desi
Schneegans, Eirik Aronsson, Emanuel Gianni, Emil Holmberg Lewe, Hamish Ruaraidh Wirgman,
Henrik Johansson d´Aubert, Ilavenil Jayapalan, Jenni Friis Bjørgli, Jørn Aagaard, Kasper
Häggström, Kim Jakobsen To, Lina Knudsen, Linn Øymo, Mari Hovengen, Mark Lewis Barbero,
Nataliia Korotkova, Ole Thomas Steinde, Preben Simensen, Reinert Berg Sortland, Svanhild
Kaasa, Tiberius Ghannam, Vaida Voraité, Zofia Jakubiec, Øyvind Ruud, Andreas Julius
Mallaug and Annikken Wilhelmsen.
Production
For this part of the project we interviewed the returning models from the show to
hear their thoughts on the experience and to continue the conversation about ideal
beauty, self-identity and consumer behavior. In the collaboration with director
Kasper Häggström we used footage from the AW2018 show and restaged the event without
the audience. Kasper Häggström truly captivates the beauty, strength and sensibility
of the wearer and the clothes. In a collaboration with Battery Black
Edition we prepared to launch the entire collection at F5 Concept Store alongside a
multi media showcase of the film by Kasper Häggström for O—F—C.
In collaboration with Battery Black Edition we launched the collection for sale at F5
Concept store in June 2018. For the event we invited to a live three-part DJ set and
premier showcase of Kasper Häggström’s film for O—F—C. F5 Concept Store
is a retail concept in Prinsens gate 6 in Oslo with focus on Norwegian design,
founded in 2013. All the brands they carry are Norwegian, or have a strong
connection to Norway. O—F—C would like to thank F5 Concept Store for their generosity
and hard work.
Credits: Annikken Wilhelmsen, Dahir Doni, Ilavenil Jayapalan, Jenni Friis Bjørgli, Jørn
Aagaard, Lina Knudsen, Mark Lewis Barbero, Nina Björkendal, Preben Simensen, Reinert
Berg Sortland, Vilde Rolfsen, Øyvind Ruud, Andreas Julius Mallaug and Annika Linn Verdal
Homme.
SS2019
The showcase of the SS2019 collection was presented as part of Oslo Runway Bik Bok
Awards. For this collection O—F—C received national and international press coverage,
making the Norwegian headline as the first brand to showcase a hijab on the catwalk
and receiving great reviews from Vogue. O—F—C would like to give a very special
thanks to Oslo Runway and Team Models.