Interview with Karl-Oskar of WoodWood

Based in Copenhagen, WoodWood embodies a laid back blend of underground and avant-garde. Over the last few years, an illustrious graphic profile has established WoodWood as a driving force on the European street couture scene. Also, wood wood contributes to numerous collaborations involving an international network of friends and likeminded creators.

Who makes up the creative team behind woodwood?

My name is Karl-Oskar , I'm the “all-around” player in the creative team, and I work closely with my wife Lotte Bank, Brian Jensen who's mostly into the graphic part and Magnus Castensen who’s managing our stores.

Where did you grow up and where do you currently live and work?

I was born in Vaxjo in Sweden, then my parents moved back to Roskilde, just outside Copenhagen where I grew up. Now I live with Copenhagen with my family, our studio is in the center of Copenhagen, not to far from the stores, here we are all together, production, accountant, designers etc. We are 16 people now.

What was your formal training/education?

I have a masters degree from the Royal Danish Design School, so does my wife and Brian.

Which idea came first, the store or the apparel?

Long story, to make it short, we actually started printing on some t-shirts as 10,000 other small brands around the millennium. At the same time Magnus found this small empty space in Krystalgade and we just started selling there, sometimes just 1 t-shirt per day. Then we went to New York and got good feedback on our designs, there was a store called Stackhouse, they bought some tee’s . It made us think that we could open a store in Copenhagen that could showcase some things not accessible here, like rare sneaks, toys, mags etc. At the time we were, as many others, very inspired by Alife and the whole New York vibe around 2001-2002.

What first got you into design?

I actually wanted to become an architect, but a writing on the wall near the architect school said “ architects are homo´s” it made me change my mind, so now I make fashion which isn’t homo at all. I've always been drawing, also made some graffiti in the late eighties, so somehow I always knew I would be creative in some way.

Where do you get inspiration for your work?

We get inspiration from many things. But a typical Wood Wood thing is when we find the opposite of an object or saying. We really like to put things in contrasts and see what will happen, it’s also a lot about attitudes and energy. When we try to build up some kind of story to support our designs for a collection , we often end up with something completely different, it can sometimes happen that we ping pong with each others ideas, and Lotte takes Brians graphics and turn them upside down, its really one big mess sometimes. I’ve also made some good friendships with other creators over the past years, they are perhaps the most inspiring people and I often think of them when I design, Berhard Willhelm, Kim Jones,Russel Waterman, Peter Jensen, Mikael Kopelman, Henrik Vibskov, Olaf Breuning . It helps to see other creators succeed, it really makes me want to work even harder.

Do you feel that living in the Copenhagen gives you a different perspective on fashion and design from the rest of the world, and if so, what are those qualities?

In Copenhagen, and Denmark in general, young people have quite a lot of money, even if you are student. This and the fact that we are extremely well informed about the world situation and that also makes us very aware of the fashion scene in general. Danish people are very good at selecting and put different styles together in a way that doesn’t look cheap. Of course we have our fucked up overdressed stylists here as well but in general I think we are well mixed, and have quite good taste.

Wood Wood have showed the way to many things, brands, styles and attitudes in Copenhagen. When we started to import these brands only known from the magazines and put them together with more basic and street things, people finally found what was missing. And it seemed like many people had been waiting for a place like ours, finally people could get the same stuff they where purchasing when traveling to London, New York or Paris.

Of course other retailers in Copenhagen with no respect found out about our success and had to copy us.

Over the past decade, computers have changed the way designers work. Fewer and fewer people actually use pen and paper these days.

How do you work? How does the design process begin with you?

Its now our 5th season doing collections for other men and women. So naturally I've been converted to think in clothing, and how to make it. Fashion or street wear or what the fuck you want to call it is, for me, something that should support you as a person and your thoughts and beliefs. So when we start up a new season I get aware of things that I could use in a possible design “story”. It could be a tune, or a picture or even a person. I always see myself as the possible costumer, and my ideas come out of my own wishes or thoughts. Lotte would typically lay down 23 pieces of paper with doodles and small clippings from magazines and some colors and say “ lets make some “epidemic" design ;-) its really cool, because Brian then sometimes comes up with some ideas for a print or a pattern some days later. Then we meet again and talk over our thoughts, some details and material. Suddenly after a few weeks a pattern or 2 is made and we can begin to place small details or prints on the different styles.

How do you feel about the idea that "designers are a dime a dozen" and anyone w/ Illustrator can design?

Only good designers can get something out of illustrator, for me it’s very easy to point out a computer nerd with skills on a Mac, and to a talent for design, shape, color and proportion.

My mother always told me “ see and draw”, if you cannot see what you are drawing , understand the essence of the object or how it works, you can’t communicate the importance of that !?

Does a designer have a certain responsibility to society, if so or if not, please explain...

-good question. I think we have. Designers are educated to fulfill human beings aestethic needs. It’s important that we as innovative designers take responsibility to clean up all the shit that mass industry is producing. We need to think on our global environment, pollution, child work and support locally.

What is your studio/work environment like?

At the moment we are really struggling with having enough space at our studio. I guess we have grown to fast to have time to look for other and better spaces. Our studio is in the absolute center of the city, which is very nice, there’s kind of like this exotic vibe to it. There’s a pastry just across the street and some good stores such as Wallace. To be in the center also means that we can walk to everything if we should need to get something, its very nice. The space itself is over bombed with garments, boxes, cardboards, machines, paper, the phone is constantly ringing , people go in and out, actually I don’t even have a desk anymore , the other day I sat on a bunch of stapled magazines with my laptop on my knee, Brian is in the same situation, I don’t even know where he’s located.

What music do you listen to while designing and what music are you obsessed w/ right now?

I’m mostly into Stoneroses, Oasis, Happy Mondays, Joy Division, Blur, Massive Attack, but my daughter is totally into the smurfs eurotecno version so I get a lot of that at the moment.

What are your 5 most coveted items in your life at the moment?

I just got a super nice Mercedes 230 ´78 in grey/silver with leather seats, that’s the 1 item for me at the moment.

What items do you regret ever purchasing?

I got a really ugly tattoo once, it was supposed to be round but it became a shape of an egg. I sat with my arm wrong while having it made. I now made a big black rainy cloud all over it, so now its gone forever