Séfr’s creative director Sinan Abi Morshed talks Vogue Scandinavia through the Gothenburg-based brand’s autumn/winter ‘24 collection – and widely-anticipated first foray into the world of womenswear
“Whenever we have met with our customers and buyers in Paris, and all around the globe, they always ask: ‘Is this womenswear? Are you guys planning to do womenswear?’” Sinan Abi Morshed, co-founder and creative director of Séfr tells me down the phone from Gothenburg. He has just returned to his Swedish hometown after a few days in the aforementioned Paris, presenting the brand’s autumn/winter ‘24 collection – a collection which, after Séfr’s six years in the game, has delivered on this resounding demand.
“It’s been a very natural step to move into womenswear,” Abi Morshed goes on. “It feels right, like it already existed, in a sense.” Looking at Séfr’s previous collections, any gendered boundaries beyond the sizing system have been hazy. Ornate floral velour shirts, slinky lace creations, and the kind of knitwear and outerwear that oozes with ‘borrowed from the boys’ appeal.
Photo: Séfr
Photo: Séfr
The official womenswear debut forms part of the AW24 line-up dubbed ‘Rhythm’, which the collection notes confirm as an ode to the rhythm found ‘in everything’, ‘a pulse through life that increases, motivates to action and inspires emotion – or on the contrary, puts you in a calmer and more meditative state’. It rings true with how Abi Morshed describes Séfr’s creative process – all about feeling.
It’s been a very natural step to move into womenswear. It feels right, like it already existed, in a sense.
Sinan Abi Morshed, Séfr's co-founder and creative director
“For both Per [Fredrikson, co-founder] and me, we didn’t know anyone in the industry when we started. We did it all, and it always came from within, from feeling.” Abi Morshed describes how every collection – ‘Rhythm’ inclusive – finds its starting point in fabrics. “I think a lot of people do the opposite, but we always start with the fabrics, the textures, the materials, and we go from there. And I tell people that work with us, ‘You have to feel something when you see a fabric. Not just with your hands but with your emotions. If you don’t feel something, you skip it.’”
Photo: Séfr
The feeling of Séfr’s womenswear entrance is powerful – so much so that Abi Morshed says some visitors to the Paris showroom “had goosebumps”. The corduroy is rich and velvety; jackets are splashed with generous doses of shearling, wools are finished with tactile bouclé, and threads are freed for a tasselled effect. Elsewhere, Séfr’s affinity for technicality is evident – note the 3D pleated blouse and the precision of cut-outs in one woven-knit top.
“We work with an Italian supplier that is the best when it comes to technical fabrics,” Abi Morshed explains. “He knows us so well by now, and he knows that we’re always looking for something unique and expressive. And when we found this kind of [pleated] fabric, we developed it together, and we were like, ‘We have to save this to use in womenswear’.
Photo: Séfr
Photo: Séfr
“I would say that’s also something that’s unique for us,” he goes on. “We never look at something and categorise it for, oh, this is the fabric for a shirt or, oh, this is the fabric for outerwear. We’re always open-minded.”
We’ve known – and envied – the Séfr man for some time now, but who is the Séfr woman? “Séfr’s womenswear… it’s such a unique expression of an independent woman who actually doesn’t care about what somebody, or her environment, tells her to do. She knows, and when she knows, she just follows that instinct.”
See Séfr’s AW24 ‘Rhythm’ womenswear collection below:
