Interview with Rigetta Klint
We have had the pleasure of sitting down with Rigetta Klint, the founder of HÅNDVÆRK bookazine. HÅNDVÆRK no. 8, launching the 23rd of March takes you on a fashion-themed tour of Denmark, featuring RHANDERS glove factory, S.N.S Herning, Jan Machenhauer and many other brands.
Q. Could you briefly introduce yourself and tell us about your background?
I was originally a fashion designer and worked for many years under my own name. I had shops in Odense and Copenhagen, and in 2008–2014, I owned and ran the online shop and magazine SLOWFASHIONhouse.com, based in Stockholm.
In 2000, I was one of the first people in the world to introduce the concept of ‘slow fashion’. In my definition of this concept, I was leaning on the ‘slow food’ movement and its motto of ‘good, clean and fair’. Naturally, I had a certain signature style; however, ‘slow fashion’ is not in itself a style but an attitude about quality in every link of the chain. Since 2008, I have worked with communication in the design industry in a variety of ways, as part of SLOWFASHIONhouse.com, as a freelancer and as an employed brand manager.
Q. Can you shed some light on when and how you started up HÅNDVÆRK?
I launched the HÅNDVÆRK bookazine in 2019 because I wanted to create a physical product again, and because I wished to bring my knowledge and experience into play as a basis for in-depth and respectful interviews, features and photos about all types of crafts and craft processes. I believe the closest shortcut to a sustainable practice goes via a certain knowledge of materials and production methods. That is how it is for professionals, and that is how it is for all of us, as private individuals.
The purpose of the semi-annual HÅNDVÆRK bookazine is to reach a wide audience, both in Denmark and abroad, based on an aesthetic universe, a high level of quality and content that is both informative and entertaining.
Q. Do you have a specific philosophy that you follow in regard to finding new stories / projects for HÅNDVÆRK?
My own point of departure is the design industry, and I am passionate about aesthetics. In my work with HÅNDVÆRK I am always looking for informants who are both skilled and knowledgeable; that is, people who master a craft that involves practice and experience and who posses knowledge that they have acquired either academically or by other means. HÅNDVÆRK is about materials and production processes, but above all, it is about people.
Each issue revolves around a theme, which defines a framework that I fill out with stories which combine to form a larger whole. This means that the bookazine can be read cover to cover, like a book, or it can be read like a magazine, bit by bit, perhaps even from the back.
Q. What was your main inspiration for the newest issue of HÅNDVÆRK?
The latest issue of HÅNDVÆRK, no. 8, has fashion as its theme. The bookazine is less about what is modern than it is about who creates fashion, and on what terms. I spoke to a wide range of people who are active in the fashion industry in various ways, as makers, designers or manufacturers. I met with a former fashion professional who is now a farmer, I spoke to a dedicated buyer of bespoke clothing, I was seduced by beautiful vintage fashion and learned about the sharing economy, I interviewed the creators of four different skincare brands, and I visited Kolding Design School.
What kind of emotions and ideas you wish HÅNDVÆRK inspires its readers?
HÅNDVÆRK is read by professionals with a special interest in and passion for the field as well as people who are interested from a consumer perspective. I cannot put it better than my readers, who are of all age groups and genders and many different nationalities. – I am so grateful for the response I get from them, they use words such as fascinating, honest, beautiful, enlightening, life-changing.
Learn more about HÅNDVÆRK here.