Jonas Sayed Gammal Bruun and Sophia Martinussen of Solitude Studios talk about ‘sacrificing’ fabric samples on a bog, co-parenting the brand as ex-lovers and trust the process
If Jonas Sayed Gammal Bruun and Sophia Martinussen from the Copenhagen-based label Solitude Studios were not designers, both agreed that they would study biology. In many ways, the brand itself exists as one big, collaborative science experiment. It was launched by Jonas and his friend in late 2019, after which the two connected with Sofia via Instagram four months after the initial launch of include Sophia’s knitting works in the designs.
Eventually, the other co-founder left the brand, and Jonas and Sofia have worked as co-owners and creative directors for the past two years. During that time, Solitude Studios expanded far beyond the popular Swamp seaweed bags which the brand originally became known for. Debut of their latest AW24 collection Hibernating hopes off the schedule before Copenhagen Fashion Week, they are now credited with starting their own major trend: god choir.
While “swampcore” and even “goblincore” trends have been circulating around the internet for the past few years, for Jonas and Sofia, incorporating nature into their designs is about much more than aesthetics. Some of the pieces in Hibernating hopes they were even painted in a peat bog near their studio.
“I used to skip school a lot and just walk around the marshy area where I grew up where the adults told us the water was red because all the elves bathethey put on their clothes there,” says Sofia. “I started to wonder what would happen if I put fabric down there? What would happen?” After running multiple tests— which involved burying fabric samples in the bog and leaving them there for weeks or months during different seasons, they discovered a process that left each garment uniquely dyed.
The idea behind Hibernating hopes came to the duo both across the moor and from a trip to a Danish Iron Age exhibition in the Moesgaard Museum. “People would throw everything that was most sacred to them into the swamp and then hope for something in return,” says Jonas. “We soon realized that this way of sacrificing to the swamp is almost karmic. You give something and then trust that nature will give it back to you, it’s not about controlling what comes your way.
When you talk to both of them Jonas and Sophia, it’s clear that this refreshingly flexible approach to the unpredictability of existence permeates all areas of their lives. Their relationship with each other has also been fluid: going from collaborators to dating for three years before splitting to focus on co-parenting their ‘baby’ – the brand.
We spoke to Solitude Studios co-owners Fr Hibernating hopesswamp sacrifice and brand building through separation.
Hey both of you! Tell me about the story behind your latest collection, Hibernating hopes.
Jonas Syed Gamal Brown: Started from several different points simultaneously. We had this dying fabric thing in the swamp that we were going with for almost two years, and then we wanted to make a collection that had the space speak more for itself.
Sophia Martinussen: Yes, in the process of making these fabrics, we dug them up and put them in water and felt strangely related to him in an almost ritualistic way. I felt very holy. We wanted to dive into it and find out what’s in this swamp that feels like there’s some truth beneath the murky water that we haven’t found anywhere else.
Jonas Syed Gamal Brown: The connection was quite strong and then we visited the museum at the end of summer last year and made this parallel. Welcome to mind as a an extension of where we place our most prized possessions. It’s not really something we use anymore – both this thing as a wish for good, and this trust in nature. So we asked what happens when you really trust and follow whatever nature tells you and put your faith in something bigger than yourself and your own intuition.
Before that, you took some time off from holding fashion shows and releasing new collections. Tell me about it.
Jonas Syed Gamal Brown: Our first runway show was very well received, thankfully, but we took some turns that put us in a situation where we didn’t have time to do new designs because we were consumed with sales and didn’t have the infrastructure for it. We were thrown into a whirlwind of wanting to make our stuff more accessible and offer more of it.
“Bog core is perfect for that [AW24] collection because it is a combination of the Iron Age and the present day. The big city meets the swamp” – Solitude Studios
Do you feel more prepared now?
Sophia Martinussen: Definitely. We are learning as we go. None of us have any training, so it’s a lot of trial and error. Just like with fabrics, we had to figure out how to build a business as we went along. But we’ve found a balance where we can do both, and we’re more prepared this time around.
What do you think of this collection called bog-core?
Jonas Syed Gamal Brown: We think it’s fun. Sometimes it takes people making it a little more palatable and putting us in that box so we can analyze it and understand it. We also think it’s funny that these buzzwords come out of this work, because it’s not like our work is very loud. We don’t think about these things when we create it. But the “marsh core” is perfect for this collection because it is a combination of the Iron Age and the present day. The big city meets the swamp.
What did you end up learning from your swamp experiments?
Sophia Martinussen: We have always been very curious creating from our surroundings and the swamp seemed like the perfect place for it. You can come there in a few months and there will just be nothing. It depends on the season and the fiber. Protein fibers like wool or silk can be there for a long time, but cotton is eaten away so quickly. Also, we just left it to chance and didn’t know what we were going to get out of it. It’s different every time, you don’t know if there’s going to be a huge hole in the middle because some animal ate it. We can then design around it and that shapes how the jacket will be shaped.
It really takes ‘slow fashion’ to a whole new level. What about the seaweed bag. Where did this idea come from?
Jonas Syed Gamal Brown: The seaweed bag was one of our first Solitude Studio pieces from our first collection. It started with this seaweed technique before it became a bag. The technique was to recycle textile waste to make this ball of grass. We wanted it to be like wearing a lawn. Then it started to look like seaweed and a big inspiration for him was Copenhagen itself. We have huge lakes and once a year there are huge piles of algae next to the streets. We just loved it right away.
How was it going from dating to breaking up while still building Solitude Studios?
Sophia Martinussen: When I first started working at Solitude, I was mainly working with the other guy, but one day I was in the studio and Jonas was there too. We had this nice relationship and we started sharing our ideas and going to museums. We ended up going out. We started slowly because we said to ourselves that “this is not a good idea” if we want to continue working together. We’ve always talked about it probably making sense not to date anymore. And how would it be then? But we also had that trust in the universe. It’s something we both share.
Jonas Syed Gamal Brown: We were together for almost three years and if I had to sum it up in one word, I would call it intense. We started living together very quickly and then spent every moment of our day together. It wasn’t very sustainable for a romantic relationship. So we talked about the fact that we would choose work over our relationship every step of the way.
Sophia Martinussen: It’s become a lot more fun working together than dating. We will have the most fun together here in the studio. We had a friend who once told us, “The way you meet someone is also the reason you break up.” I think so too resonated so much with us. We met through wanting to work together, but that’s also the reason we broke up. Because we want to work together.
“[Our break-up] it was a beautiful realization that we are partners in life in a different way and yet bound to something else. We still want to share our lives, and when we broke up, it felt comforting to have this baby together.” – Solitude Studios
And how is your relationship now?
Sophia Martinussen: It was a beautiful realization that we are partners in life in a different way and yet bound to something else. We still want to share our lives and when we broke up it felt comforting to have this baby together. Since then it has been much better and our work is better. The whole thing is more pleasant.
What are your plans for the future?
Jonas Syed Gamal Brown: We definitely want to keep doing shows. This time we realized that the shows are when we have the most fun with our work. A move to Paris is definitely in the plans, but it will probably be a few collections before we get there.
Sophia Martinussen: We had so much fun making this collection, getting deep into the storytelling and even choosing something that is less aesthetically pleasing but fits better with the story. We met two days after the show because we couldn’t wait to get back to making clothes. We just want to keep learning and being curious about the world and our craft. This is our goal.
