For its latest capsule collection, Swedish brand Rodebjer interprets the works of Carl Larsson. We chat with designer Carin Rodebjer about the artist’s enduring legacy and translating his watercolours to clothes
Rodebjer regularly honours artists through thoughtful capsule collections, yet the brand’s latest artistic homage hits particularly close to home for all Swedes. This time around, Rodebjer tapped the work of Carl Larsson, an artist who, since coming to prominence in the late 1880s, has been deeply embedded in the Swedish culture. The collection, which finds Larsson’s lyrical watercolours brushed across ladylike silk shirts and breezy trousers, floor-sweeping frocks and caftans, arrives July 10th, just in time to add a bit of artistic flare to one’s elegant summer looks.

Photo: Rodebjer

Photo: Rodebjer
Despite Larsson’s ubiquity, designer Carin Rodebjer’s feelings towards his work has had its ups and downs over the years. “My relationship with his art had gone through so many phases, as it has for a lot of Swedish people in my generation,” says Rodebjer. “It has gone from seeing my mothers' posters in my childhood home, feeling frankly quite bored about them, to full admiration of his art and life.”
It wasn’t until Rodebjer dug into Larsson’s life, namely his relationship with wife Karin Larsson (a textile artist and interior designer) and their bohemian existence at their iconic home, Carl Larsson-gården (often the subject of Larsson’s paintings) that she gained a deeper respect for the artist. “I’m intrigued by [Carl and Karin’s] synchronisation – their creative talents co-existing in their life as well as in his art. How progressively they led their life at their time. And how intertwined their legacy is with the idea of what Sweden looks like,” says Rodebjer.

Photo: Rodebjer

Photo: Rodebjer
Aesthetically, Larsson and Rodebjer are comfortable bedfellows, revelling in the beauty of Swedish nature and embodying a certain practicality. “I think the energy and the intensity fits the brand,” says Rodebjer. “Also the fact that he liked to paint the reality. Rodebjer to me is as much about reality as it is about fashion. Nothing beats real life. Carl Larsson painted every day life and I like to design for enhanced every day life.” True to that practical nature, Rodebjer plucked the paintings that “translated well onto fabric and clothes”.
It was only fitting to shoot the capsule at the home of Carl and Karin Larsson (a home that has been featured on the pages of Vogue Scandinavia). “You can really feel the creative energy of both Karin and Carl in the house and their love for their work,” says Rodebjer. “It felt like a real gift and overwhelming in the best sense.”