IKLA originally caught our eye during the last London Collections: Men season. The use of relaxed silhouettes that didn’t require a total wardrobe re-calibration piqued our interest, but what pulled us in were the brand’s influences. The ’90s inspiration was clear, but, more than that, it was obvious that these influences were from specific periods rather than the Tumblr mishmash we’re accustomed to seeing. There were nods to ‘90s minimal legends such as Jil Sander and Helmut Lang, alongside a British working class “lad” influence, including what appears to be a reworking of Burberry’s infamous check pattern.
IKLA is the work of Finnish designer Ikla Wright. Wright, a Central Saint Martins graduate, held design positions for Jens Laugesen and Preen by Thornton Bregazzi before taking up his current role as head designer at E. Tautz in 2010, a position he holds today. He set up his eponymous label this year which launches for the Fall/Winter 2016 season.
We spoke to the man himself to find out about his brand’s differentiation from E. Tautz, why he made the move to launch his label and, of course, the ’90s.
How does IKLA differ from E. Tautz?
I think IKLA is bit edgier and younger compared to a Tautz customer, but Tautz is not my brand and I’m not prepared to draw too many comparisons between the two labels.
I do work for both but IKLA is all me where I make all the decisions (good or bad) myself.
Why the move into your own brand now?
I’ve been working and designing for other brands for a decade now and it just seemed [to be] the right time. I’ve done my time and learned the ropes. I also felt I just really had to get it out of my system. If I had kept telling myself to wait yet another few years I would never have done it. I couldn’t forgive myself looking back as an old geezer and thinking I wish I’d tried. Even if it all went tits up now, at least I gave it a go. And I can live with that.
What part of the ‘90s were you inspired by?
I was a teenager in the early ‘90s, growing up in a small industrial town in Finland before the internet, where MTV played a big part in discovering what was happening in youth culture around the world. It was a great time as there seemed to be a new genre, style, scene, subculture born every few months, and the kids had to adapt to it. We didn’t even get MTV in our house so you had your mates to copy VHS tapes of Yo MTV Raps! one year, and then you had to tape the new Alternative Nation or the Headbangerz Ball etc over them. Good times.
For AW16, I mixed two seemingly clashing phenomena of the ’90s: the minimalist movement in fashion that celebrated clean, intellectual, concept-led designs and the rise of the “lad” culture. Almost creating high concept tracksuits I guess.
What are some of the fabrics used? (We know there’s wools, cottons and high performance fabrics)
I’ve used the best fabrics around, wool flannels are woven in Yorkshire by the brilliant Bower Roebuck and Savile Clifford, while the shirting cottons and the technical high-performance fabrics come from industry leading mills in Italy, Albini and Loro Piana respectively.
Is the relaxed silhouette a key part of IKLA?
Very much so, personally I don’t own a suit and would struggle to tie a tie. That’s just not me.
The tailoring in the collection is cut extremely relaxed, trousers [are] more like tracksuit bottoms and combat trousers. [The] jackets are made with an overshirt construction, complete with a back yoke and knife pleats, no chest canvas, no shoulder pad. Easy.
Same with the outerwear, [it’s] all a bit oversized and relaxed. Even the bombers and parkas come with voluminous raglan sleeves, cut in contrasting panels harking back to the ’90s street wear. Wearability is key for me.
Where can people find IKLA?
I have just finished my first sales season in Paris so stay tuned for stockists on my website – ikla.eu.