Back (Q3817)
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Back is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Back |
Back is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
2005
creative director
Concept is wed to autobiography in Ann-Sofie Back’s work. This is most definitely the case withBack’s Spring 2018 collection, titled It’s a Match, in which her fantasies of wild office parties and prom dates comingle with her real-life experience of online dating. The designer’s adventures in e-love were inadvertently kick-started when she discovered that an intern of hers was on the same app. Back herself is shy when meeting people face-to-face, but she knew she’d excel on the platform because, as she says, “I’m kind of rude and quick with words.”Designed in the midst of a budding romance and a business slump, the collection “is partly about Tinder and dating and [partly about] the collapsing fashion system,” Back explains. “I took the inspiration of Wall Street and the corporate office look—The Wolf of Wall StreetandAmerican Psycho—[and mixed it with] oversexualized prom-date princess.” That translated into Prince of Wales checks worked into off-kilter suiting, including a broad-shouldered blazer-cum-bodysuit and a stirrup jumpsuit, as well as a breast-baring corset and an asymmetric shirtdress with what Back cleverly described as a “drunk buttoning collar.”The images here are being released as the clothes hit stores. Back recruited six women with whom she feels a kinship to wear the designs—singersSarah Assbring(El Perro Del Mar) andNadia Tehran, twins Caro and Adele, and artistsAnia ChorabikandArvida Byström. The timely shoot captures the spirit of the collection, but it doesn’t do it justice. Back is an expert at both “come-on” clothes, as she puts it, and “death of sex” looks, and she has been experimenting with asymmetry and proportion for decades. This lineup contains pieces that rival those generating buzz on the international scene.
19 January 2018
Ann-Sofie Backhas a disarming sense of humor. Ask her why she got into fashion, and she’ll lob back, “Because my parents dressed so poorly!”To this day, the designer tends to circle back to ideas she considers not quite finished or organically open-ended. For that reason, her Fall collection was partially inspired by her homeland of Sweden, right down to the saturated turquoise and yellow separates that nodded to the national flag. But Back is neither literal nor sugarcoated. “Sweden has changed a lot between the time I left for London and the time I returned,” noted the designer, who is now based in Stockholm. “I used to think my country was onto something, but now we have the same problems as everyone else.” While hardly on the barricades, Back likes to react. She called this collection “Swedish Sin,” which she noted was not so much a reference to Swedish ’70s porn, but more about “a certain smugness.”Cue lots of childhood references, notably a shirred disco number in silver lamé. “It’s not as scary to wear as you might think,” the designer said of the single-strapped jumpsuit with ribbed cuffs and an asymmetric sweater underneath. Lowered, elongated hoodies and dropped collars were among the collection’s hallmarks. Further along, a sweatsuit with ribbed cuffs and “ass hoodie” trousers made a case for edgy bottom-camouflaging. A style piece, a silver-tiled bra with just one triangle, owed a debt to porn, but looked sporty when worn with an asymmetric sweater (in a chunky ivory or burgundy knit). Elsewhere, practicality ruled: One parka will appeal to both women and men, while multipocket camouflage trousers yielded a déjà vu moment thanks to foot stirrups.Back loves a party, but she is just as much about practicality, as a military-style dress coat suggested. Sheer bodysuits could be worn classically, inside trousers or over. Metallic-tinged lace clocked the seasonal trend. But it was “the silver monster,” a side-shirred, turtleneck lamé statement dress, that will probably claim significant editorial space. Fortunately, it could also work in real life.
6 March 2017
Like Mary in the nursery rhyme,Ann-Sofie Backis quite contrary. Her approach to design is tenacious, if not combative. Each season she tackles a subject, silhouette, or theme that she dislikes and tries to come to terms with it. She also said, in the notes to her Spring collection, that the brand is “built on the concept of self-referencing”—or reworking ideas from past collections. Looking backward to move forward is something that we’ve also seen from other designers, including Prada, in this nostalgia-laden season.The Spring 2017 collection was scheduled to be shown in Paris, but the presentation was canceled at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances. (This reviewer saw it in Back’s Stockholm studio.) The designer explained that she began this season by revisiting her Wild West–themed Fall 2005 lineup, a fan favorite that she nevertheless has always viewed very critically, calling it “my absolute hate collection.” In any case, Back’s mission was to figure out what went right and wrong.She couldn’t have picked a better time to revisit this section of her archive. Western tropes are a major theme this season, so hers seem very on point—even if their genesis is unique. The Spring collection is not a redo of Fall 2005; rather, Back used the latter as a springboard, channeling the West with gingham checks and generously proportioned leather jackets, and then giddily expanding her Americana theme to include Miami, a city the designer has never visited but which appeals to her as “a cliché.” It’s “an unreal place,” she said, “the opposite of genuine—and I like that!” Back referenced the sunny city’s ebullience with soft tie-dyes and a palette that included poison greens and pink, which she described as a “problematic color.” Look more closely and you’ll also find palm-tree motifs as well as that of a hybrid mascot dubbed a “monster flamingo.”Also subtly worked into this strong collection were sports references: ski/stirrup pants, sports sock–like cuffs, and hoodie-inspired pieces, including some great dresses. Contrasting with these casual, street-smart knit looks were more structured ones, like car coats, both checked and solid, with rounded backs. These, said Back, represent “an ’80s take on ’50s clothes.” (More back-to-go-forward action.) For Spring, Back updated her signature jeans with exaggerated knee details, adding a high-waist and belt detailing. They deserve a second look—through the designer’s trendy B sunglasses or otherwise.
Those jeans have a marvelously original silhouette that is also very photogenic, and they’re sure to have everyone asking: “Who made those?” In other words, they’re a find.
30 September 2016
Founder: Ann-Sofie Back Year established: 2005 Known for: Innovative and wearable design; elegance with a sense of humor; and the slogan T-shirts “BACK for good” and “She is BACK” Worn by: Beyoncé, Icona Pop, Rihanna, and Noomi Rapace
26 August 2015
Founders: Ann-Sofie Back and business partner Jennie Rosén (joined in 2010)Year established: 2005Known for: Innovative yet wearable design; elegance with a sense of humorStocked at: Opening Ceremony (New York and Los Angeles)
27 January 2015
We're posting runway pictures from Stockholm Fashion Week for the first time. See the full list of designers here. To read our daily reports on the collections, visit our Style File blog. And don't miss our street-style coverage.
27 January 2013