Skall Studio - AW23

Roll up for Skall Studio’s 'Magical Mystery Tour'. For autumn/winter 2023, sister design duo Julie and Marie Skall are coming to take you away... to the English highlands, that is. “We have always been great fans of The Beatles, who spent time in the Highlands in their early career. Paul McCartney, especially, was a great fan of nature and spent as much time as possible on his Scotland farm to get closer to nature,” Julie says. “We have always had a great need to be surrounded by nature ourselves.” For the Skall sisters – as for most Scandinavians – there is a certain magic, or spirituality, within nature that transcends, well, the natural.

Highland dressing, which today was set to gorgeous live performance by Oh Land, is an alluring starting point. These are the sort of garments that instantly appear as though they’ve been treasured in one’s closet for years. The chunky wool cable knits, the relaxed pleated trousers, the camel duffel coat – a hint of tartan visible in the lining of the hood. “Heritage has always been essential to us, and we have always aimed to design classic pieces for the wardrobe,” says Marie. A breezy femininity is found in the dainty ruffles along the collar of a peasant blouse and the easy cotton dresses.

This season marks the introduction of another wardrobe essential: denim. “Since our childhood we have been wearing denim,” says Julie. “Whenever we design a shirt or sweater, we always consider how it will look like with jeans.” Though classic in its appearance – a great indigo wash, a no-fuss fit – Skall’s denim program is carefully considered, particularly in terms of sustainability (always tricky when it comes to jeans). The sisters found GOTS-certified factory in Turkey, which measures the environmental impact of each pair produced. Waste and cut-offs are recycled into new fabric.

Fittingly, for a collection that revels in heritage, there are hints of the Skall sisters’ personal history. Growing up, the girls would oft visit England and Scotland with their parents. Then there’s the Sandi jumper, rendered in tactile stripes of beige and brown using contrasting knitting techniques. “We had a close connection to our grandfather and when we think about him, we often see him in his hand-knitted sweater,” says Marie. “He would wear it everywhere – when he did his garden work, when he read the newspaper and when he went for a walk. Unfortunately, our grandfather passed away last year so this is also a small tribute to him.”

See the full collection below: