Sweater sauce by Ýrúrarí nominated to the Icelandic Design Awards 2020

We are proud to announce the first nomination to the Icelandic Design Awards 2020 - Sweater sauce by textile Designer Ýr Jóhannsdóttir or Ýrúrarí. During the next days we will announce the nominations for the year 2020 and the award ceremony will be digital on the 29th of January.

FROM THE JURY

"Everybody loves a good makeover on a person, so why should sweaters that have ended up in the Red Cross be any different? First showcased at DesignMarch in June 2020, these sweaters, many of which were made over with humorous hot dog and sauce related appliques and patches, attracted a lot of attention. After sourcing them (or “saucing” them, perhaps?) in the Red Cross, Ýr Jóhannsdóttir, an Icelandic artist who goes under the name of Ýrúrarí, took the original garments and transformed them into witty and whimsical pieces imbued with new life and new energy. The sweaters were often discarded after having been stained with sauce from the famous Icelandic hot dogs. Rather than concealing these flaws she drew inspiration from them and made them a feature of the sweaters, coving them in ketchup and mustard swirls, happy mouths and tongues. With so many upcycled fashion concepts relying heavily on serious intent and execution, this provided a lovely and whimsical counterpoint, a way to give fashion a second life with humor and joy."

ABOUT THE PROJECT

First showcased at DesignMarch in June 2020. Textile designer Ýr Jóhannsdóttir, or Ýrúrarí, worked in collaboration with the Red cross of Iceland with unsellable sweaters that came into their clothing collections. Most of the sweaters had undergone human everyday incidents that leave permanent traces on the fabric, which brings them to the Red cross clothing collection.

Ýr takes unusual approaches in the process of fixing and changing the sweaters were sauce stains get a new look and holes, lints, smudges, snags and spots become part of history in a remade unique sweater. When looking through the sweaters it leads the mind to the backstory of them and what encounters made those visible leaking stains. The act of uncarefully eating hot dogs is one of the main reasons for those stains which became the theme of the project Sweater sauce.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Designer Ýr Jóhannsdóttir graduated with a BA in textile design in 2017 but started working with knitting and the sweater-form in 2012. Ýr is known for playfulness and humour mixed with practicality in her work but her sweaters have cached attention both in Iceland and internationally. In previous years Ýr’s work has moved in more sustainable directions in her material choices and themes with underlying thoughts and awareness for textile consumption

Production and art direction by Blóð Stúdíó

The Icelandic Design Award honours the best Icelandic design and architecture annually. The importance of design in our society, culture and business has been growing steadily, and it is therefore vital to increase the understanding of good design and highlight the value of quality.

Celebrating achievement and excellence, the Icelandic Design Award is given to a designer, a team, a studio or an architect in recognition of an outstanding new work, object, project or collection. The award is given to a recent project that demonstrates creative thinking, resourceful solutions, thorough presentation and professional methodology throughout the design process. Best investment in design recognises successful investment in design or architecture in the past year. It is awarded over to a company that has incorporated design in the core of its operations to create value and increase competitiveness.

During the next days we will announce the nominations for the year 2020 and the award ceremony will be digital on the 29th of January.

The Icelandic Design Award is established by Iceland Design and Architecture in collaboration with the Iceland University of the Arts, the Museum of Design and Applied Art, Promote Iceland, Landsvirkjun and SI - the Federation of Icelandic Industries.