Johan Hjerpe explores “images, objects and spatiality” with passion as he strives to translate the underlying narratives of his clients into designs. “In general I see design as props or a set design that position and support clients and consumers in their narratives. In other words I don’t like design that tries to ‘communicate’ in an ad sense. ‘Communication’ demands memorizing, props are useful tools.” This is the core of his creative intentions – to maintain the practicality and relevance of his output.
Hjerpe started his studio in Stockholm in 2004, and considers fashion to be a “small but ambitious” component of the city’s creative industry. At college he collaborated with the fashion and product design departments, which stimulated his interest in these fields and encouraged a broader creative awareness. The experience undoubtedly informed his sensitivity to the fashion industry’s requirements and its demand for “understanding and respect for its uniqueness”.
Hjerpe finds personal satisfaction in the everyday details of processing a design, but is careful to remain focused on the end result. He is careful not to form initial conclusions or become over-confident about the direction a project should take. He is an intuitive practitioner, confident that his work is successful “when there is nothing to say about it, no easy point of improvement. Everything is very clear but why or how is very hard to put in words. You can feel sort of an intense complexity but it’s hard to identify the building blocks.”
Diana Orving’s creativity goes beyond the production of garments. Every season, in fashion shows that are more akin to theatre, she invites her audience to take an emotional journey. She develops detailed narratives that unfold with every piece of her collection, emphasizing the importance of the complete integration of the graphic design into her practice. Orving and Hjerpe have worked together since 2003, and have developed an impenetrable collaborative partnership. “It is hard to say where the collection ends and the graphic design begins for me. My work for Diana is always an extension of the collection,” says Hjerpe.
There appears to be a seamless exchange of ideas between them, supported by mutual respect. Constant dialogue is vital as Hjerpe is active early in the creative process in order to produce a definitive response to the narrative of a collection. Conventional professional roles are abandoned in exchange for collective contribution. “Diana has a great sensibility for the subtlety of a typeface and how it is treated. This makes it a sometimes demanding but potentially great collaboration. You can’t hide behind your experience – you have to use it.” By the same token, Hjerpe has ventured into fashion: he developed prints for the Autumn/Winter 2007/08 collection that were translated into the central graphic element for the lookbook.
Visual literacy is the foundation of their relationship, and allows the dialogue to flow easily over references, materials and potential visual cues. “The visual testing ground cannot be translated into words without losing precision, at least not before the start. Later in the process it is good to verbalize in order to evaluate the direction,” says Hjerpe. For Spring/Summer 2006 Orving explored seven standard garments in different sizes, playing with the concept of scale. While they were technically simplistic, the lookbook extended the collection beautifully, with standard page formats and black-and-white laser printing. Although it was conceptually justified, Hjerpe feels this is not enough to consider the project a complete success. “I feel that concepts need to be ‘unsmarted’ and taken to poetic heights as well.”
More than dedicated to self-improvement, Hjerpe is forward thinking and has a natural creative curiosity that drives his work. “For me work and leisure are very hard to separate.” Uninhibited by conventional modes of creativity, when Hjerpe is secure in a constructive and stimulating working relationship, such as with Diana Orving, he is able to draw the best from himself and his client. While there are no prerequisites for someone so adaptive, collaboration in this instance has certainly been essential to the results.
The cover of the postcard-sized Autumn/ Winter 2008/09 lookbook folds out to reveal images by Martina Hoogland Ivanov that inspired the collection. An additional booklet with studio images of the collection is photographed by Anne Grandin. “If life is a feature film, fashion provides the costume and graphic design the props for you to build your character and story.”
“For Spring/Summer 2006 Diana made a collection based on seven standard garments (shirt, trousers, vest, etc.) in the standard sizes of S-M-L. The small shirt, for example, became more of a bolero; while the large shirt was so large it became a dress. My printing budget basically left me with copier paper and a laser printer. We named the collection ‘STANDARD-S-S-06’ and I kept everything as standard as I could with stock A5–A3 papers and black laser printing. The cheap production kept the collection high-end because of the conceptual fit.”
The Autumn/Winter 2007/08 lookbook features photography by Erik Wåhlström and an illustration by Johan Hjerpe on the reverse that was also used as a fabric print in the collection. “I have an ongoing feeling that the ultimate work philosophy is just around the corner. Each new project seems to demand a portion of redefining though – and next corner it is.”