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The Mie Grand colours for the spring/summer season. Photo: Siv Katralen.
Photo: Anthony Huus.
Photo: Close to my heart.
Love, every step of the way “The brand name, Close to my heart, really explains how I feel about Nepal,” says head designer Siv Katralen about her feelings towards the country where her knits are produced. By Andrea Bærland
Katralen’s love affair with Nepal and the Nepalese people started in 2011, when she came down from a trekking expedition in the Himalayas and met the sympathetic people. After over 20 years in the fashion industry selling knitwear, she then decided to design and sell products
handmade in Nepal. Close to my heart was born with its first product, the Mie Grand scarf in 100 per cent cashmere. Now, the Mie Grand scarf comes in 16 to 18 different colours every season and is by far the most-produced item at Close to my heart. “The colouring process is time consuming, only ten to 15 scarves are dyed per batch in a process that takes an hour and a half. There is a lot of love in a Mie Grand scarf,” Katralen explains. It started with the scarf, then ponchos followed, until the brand expanded into a full Autumn 2014 collection. Close to my heart carries a broad range of wool
32 | Issue 87 | April 2016
and cashmere knits in all the colours of the rainbow. The products have proven to be an enormous success in Norway so far, with 85 selected retailers from north to south.
International growth While domestic success is highly appreciated, Katralen and her team have international ambitions and recently attended the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair to reach out to buyers outside Norwegian borders. “There was plenty of interest in our clothes in Copenhagen, and hopefully we’ll start supplying retailers in Denmark and Sweden in the near future,” she says about her ambitions for the future on the business side of things. “Close to my heart is blessed with a fantastic team of dedicated employees. We do everything ourselves, and with this team we’re sure we’ll make it!”