Liquist & the Crochet ladies - an exhibition about crochet and collaborative achievements 

 

 

The craftsmanship within crochet is something very close to my heart. It’s the perfect project for everyday life and it always has such a calming effect on me. 

 

The history of domestic craftsmanship has been seen as something women do in their sparetime rather than as a celebrated art form, with this technique mainly being associated with utility and repairs. Linnea started to crochet a few years ago when she wanted to develop her practice beyond pattern cutting and sewing as a way of exploring a new way of working with endless styles and textures. She has been crocheting in unconventional ways, making her own yarn out of discarded nylon tights for her graduate collection at the London College of Fashion in 2020. 

 

Linnea has decided to celebrate crochet in its traditional way, by connecting with female crocheters from all over Sweden. She has been deeply fascinated by their knowledge when she went to meet and interview them. She found a genuine connection when talking about what crochet means to them. The result of this collective project is a collection of items made by all 30 women that have been lovingly assembled by Linnea. In this collection, Linnea has drawn inspiration from nostalgic 1970’s crochet magazines with doily designs, Swedish snickarglädje craft as well as celebrating the women who decorated their home with personal trinkets. 

 

Linnea is a London-based fashion designer specialising in crochet alongside tailoring and up-cycling. For her new project ‘Crochet Ladies’ she have been exploring the history of crocheting and in conversations with 30 crocheters all over Sweden she has created this collection as a love letter to the craft. This project is launching September 1st in Stockholm. The exhibition will be showing a range of garments in crochet alongside other art-forms that previously have been seen as domestic craft.  Linnea is giving these crafts a space in an art gallery to shine new light on these amazing techniques. This project is made with support from Irisstipendiet, and we are grateful to be one of their 2022 scholarship receivers.