Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Christmas Gifts from Sweden – Our Top Picks
Kind weapons for the sisterhood
By Linnea Dunne | Photos: Feministsmeden
It started with insufficient grades for art school and continued with a bit of a fluke. Today, Nathalie Wåhlin’s feminist smith business is booming, with an employee helping her run the shop and a growing army of allies wearing her weapons of solidarity throughout Sweden and beyond. Being diagnosed with asthma might not exactly sound like winning the jackpot, but if you are a goldsmith by trade and your job polishing jewellery turns out to be making you sick, it can actually be just the thing that makes magic happen. At least for Nathalie Wåhlin, now better known as Feministsmeden, or the feminist smith, it was. “The name had been obvious from the day a friend asked me if I could make her a Venus symbol earring in gold – I was a feminist and I was a smith,” says Wåhlin. “But when I got signed off sick, I was fired – and then I started researching it and realised all the feminist jewellery out there was quite tacky: it was big, mostly plastic, almost vulgar. Nothing in precious metal. So I started making more delicate pieces in silver and gold, selling them on Etsy, and things immediately took off.”
Now based in a workshop boutique just a stone’s throw from Stockholm’s central station, Wåhlin has a sustainable approach to her craft, creating everything by hand from recycled silver and gold. “I get to hear the most amazing stories. It’s everything from a seven-year-old who has saved up their pocket money to be able to buy the biggest Venus symbol, to retired women who know exactly what they want or perhaps are buying gifts for all their grandchildren,” she says. “I try to equip people with weapons – but kind weapons of confidence. When someone opens a Christmas gift of a feminist piece of jewellery, it brings that conversation into the homes of people. And when we walk around wearing the Venus symbol, it shows how many allies we have – that together, we are strong.”
A touch of Swedish chic
Right: The Feminist Smith, Nathalie Wåhlin, in her workshop.
Feministsmeden / The Feminist Smith Kungsholmsgatan 4A, Stockholm
Web: www.feministsmith.com Instagram: @feministsmeden
By Liz Longden | Photos: Citronelles
Good food, good drink, good company, and snuggling in away from the cold, dark evenings − the festive season is when the home really comes into its own. So what better Christmas present than a piece of classic Swedish design for the home? If there is one country that knows how to blend contemporary design and homely warmth, it is Sweden. And one design brand that has gained international attention for its stylish simplicity, combined with bold, joyous colours, is I Love Design. The London-based Swedish brand has gained international attention with its FIKA collection, a playful homage to the Swedish love affair with coffee and cake. Like much of I Love Design’s work, the collection is based on a simple typographical motif, expressed in nine different colours, which gives it a universal appeal. Variations in bone china, and with an alternative typeface, have also been introduced, and the collection is available in both Swedish and English. “Our aim is to make functional products that bring a little bit of joy and colour to everyday life,” says designer Caroline 58 | Issue 118 | November 2018
Silfverling. “The FIKA collection in particular is a design that’s both contemporary and classic at the same time, so it appeals to all ages and, of course, makes a really nice present.” Among other places, the FIKA collection can be found at Nordiska Kompaniet (NK) and Åhléns in Sweden, and is available in the UK from Totally Swedish.
I Love Design is represented in Sweden by Citronelles agency.
Web: www.citronelles.com