We like Scandinavian design, the simplicity and functionality, clean lines and quality – in furniture, household items, technology and, of course, fashion.
Danish footwear and leather accessories brand ECCO have revamped their UK flagship store in London’s Oxford Street and it has all those attributes, furniture by Danish designers Muuto and Le Klint and, of course, the fantastic shoes and accessories for men, women, children including sport shoes the brand is famous for and we have been wearing for years, because they are stylish, yet incredibly comfortable.
We went along to the re-launch and had a chance to talk at length to one of the main designers, Bjarne, who is part of a 30-strong design team in Denmark and has been reinventing ECCO shoes for over 25 years. We asked him how it was possible to come up with new ideas over and over again, but he said that he could always think of something new. A line here, a stitch there, the sole, the shape, the fastening – and he demonstrated this by sketching a design for a new model there and then. Then there are the different kinds of leathers, always of the highest quality, other materials and colours to play with, so we can be assured that there will be new designs for years to come as demonstrated by the two new ranges launched for A/W 15, Soft 7 and Intrinsic.
A really fun part of the evening was making our own personalised leather pouches from the softest of leather, complete with our initials imprinted on them. You could either assemble them yourself using metal studs or have them sewn up by the lovely Ella, who had come over from Denmark for the occasion.
We later learned from Dieter Kasprzak, president and CEO of the company, who was also in London for the event, that ECCO supplies this leather to other companies as well, amongst them Louis Vuitton.
The food and drink at the evening also had a Scandinavian flavour with Aquavit cocktails and delicious fish canapés.
445 Oxford Street, London W1C 2PP
