Norway Clothing Industry

Norway Clothing Industry Directory: learn about apparel, fashion & textiles from Norway. All about Norwegian fashion and textiles, in an online portal dedicated to Norwegian fashion.

Folk Costume Parts and Ribbons in Bergen

The supply side of this directory is Kara As, in Bergen, a company importing parts for Norwegian folk costumes. Folk costume work depends on exactly the kind of small, specific components Kara deals in: its wholesale items are folk costume shirts, folk costume braids and different lace ribbons, listed for men's and women's costumes. A maker or retailer completing a costume needs the shirt, the braid and the lace to match the garment, so a specialist importer of parts serves a different need from a shop selling finished clothing.

Kara As states plainly what it is looking for at the moment: cotton lace ribbons 4-10 cm wide, black silk ribbon 2-10 cm wide, and colored silk ribbons with floral patterns 2-4 cm wide. The widths matter because each ribbon has a different job on a costume, from a broad lace edging to a narrow floral trim, and the listing gives the range for each type so a supplier can tell at once whether its ribbons fit. Suppliers of cotton lace ribbons, black silk ribbon or floral silk ribbons can contact Karlis valdmanis, vice president, by e-mail at kara-a@online.no, by telephone on 47 55 93 01 80 or 47 95 21 62 87, or at Olsvikstallen 15, Bergen, N-5184, Norway. Readers who want the costume term itself explained can follow the Bunad Definition linked with the resources at the top of this page.

Kristian Aadnevik and the AADNEVIK Label

Norway's design name in this directory is Kristian Aadnevik, described as one of Norway's most acclaimed fashion talents. He burst onto the international scene at Milan Fashion Week in 2008, in collaboration with fashion legend Donatella Versace, who named him a “Protégé of Versace.” That Milan debut is the turning point the listing records: a Norwegian designer presented on an international fashion week stage, with the support of one of the best known names in Italian fashion.

The label that followed is AADNEVIK, a London based luxury womenswear label run as a design partnership between Hila and Kristian Aadnevik. Its defining themes are a blend of opulence, sensuality and gloom — luxury fabrics and dramatic styling held together in a single womenswear line. Behind the label sits a technical training: Kristian Aadnevik started with a technical background in tailoring before graduating in 2002 with a Master of Arts degree in Fashion Womenswear at the Royal College of Art in London. Tailoring first, then a womenswear master's degree, is the path the listing sets out, and it explains why the partnership is based in London while the designer himself is presented here as a Norwegian talent.

Collaboration and Sustainable Growth

The third entry is an industry body rather than a company. The Norwegian Fashion Hub puts collaboration at the centre of its work. Its position, stated in its listing, is that radical solutions that contribute to change can only be developed if the industry and partners collaborate. Collaboration is the answer to the challenges of our time, and necessary to alter the status quo and create new arenas for sustainable growth.

Read alongside the other two listings, that statement describes the shape of the Norwegian industry as this page presents it: a specialist importer in Bergen sourcing costume parts ribbon by ribbon, a luxury womenswear designer working internationally from London, and a hub arguing that the industry and its partners should develop solutions together, aimed at sustainable growth. Companies, designers and suppliers who want to follow that work can use the Norwegian Fashion Hub link among the resources at the top of this directory.

About Norway

Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northwestern Europe whose territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula; the remote island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard are also part of the Kingdom of Norway. Bergen, where Kara As is based, is on the country's western coast, and the folk costume trade in its listing is a reminder that traditional dress remains a living part of Norwegian clothing, with makers still sourcing shirts, braids and lace ribbons for men's and women's costumes.

If you would like to read the Apparel Search fashion website in Norwegian, you can try the website language translator page. For travel and country information, see Visit Norway. Anyone contacting a business in this directory should confirm current details directly, using the websites, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses preserved in the listings below, because company details can change over time.

Norway Fashion Industry Companies

Listings are given with the descriptions, addresses and contact details supplied for each business.