Rolf Ekroth FW24 at Copenhagen Fashion Week

Rolf Ekroth FW24 / Fall Winter 2024 at Copenhagen Fashion Week

Rolf Ekroth’s narrative takes a turn towards winter sports for Fall Winter 2024. Under the banner of Dear Night, Ekroth interprets his personal memories of Finnish winter sports, set against the backdrop of the polar darkness in 1980s Finland.

The collection of Rolf Ekroth FW24 meticulously knitted ski jumping suits, leather shorts akin to those worn by ice hockey goalkeepers, bags that mimic race bibs, and reimagined childhood couches all narrate a story of athleticism witnessed from the comfort of home.

Exploring the nostalgia of winter’s past, Rolf Ekroth FW24 collection draws inspiration from traditional Finnish winter sports: cross-country skiing, ski jumping, ice hockey and snowboarding. Ekroth’s vision embraces a distinctly athletic aesthetic, filtered through his trademark nostalgia.

The collection’s roots delve into the designer’s childhood, where Winter Olympics and grand sports events became familial rendezvous points, with the couch taking centre stage in those rare shared moments. Echoes of personal nostalgia saturate the collection, as Finnish winter sports history unfolds from the warmth of home. Silhouettes, prints and fabrics blend history and personal memories of spectating grand sports events from the comfort of a 1980s velvet couch.

While nostalgic, the collection takes liberties in reimagining silhouettes and pieces. In Ekroth’s hands, a ski jumper’s jumpsuit is reborn as a hand-knitted jumpsuit, featuring traditional Scandinavian knitting patterns. The boxy and robust form of an ice-hockey shirt undergoes a metamorphosis into a soft knitted sweater. Knitted accessories like leg warmers, mittens, woollen socks and balaclavas, paying homage to Finnish handicraft traditions, reflect the muted colour palette of 1980s Finland.

Collaborating with Novita, the largest knitting yarns manufacturer in the Nordics, Ekroth also offers a democratic way of owning a piece of Rolf Ekroth Fall Winter 2024 collection: full yarn and instruction sets, embracing Finland’s rich knitting tradition, will be available to anyone who wishes to recreate his runway knits.

Interpretations of the couch, a central element in Ekroth’s memories, find expression in velvet fabrics, soft rose prints, and velvet and leather jackets adorned with fabric-enclosed buttons reminiscent of couch detailing. Items from the homely living room, like couch cushions turned into makeshift goalie pads, are replicated in strap and piping details in trousers. Bags crafted in the likeness of cushions pay homage to protective parents who used to envelop their children in oversized cushions to shield them from falls on the ice-skating rink. Some pieces reflect memories of taking grand sports onto the playground, as seen in a boiled wool skirt and ice hockey shirt embellished with white tufts, mirroring the way snow tacks onto you when walking through a winter blizzard.

In Dear Night, Ekroth encapsulates not just the essence of historically significant winter sports but also the universality of his personal memories — winter’s familiar darkness, the softness of a velvety couch, and the license granted by sports events to come together and experience something grander than ourselves.

ROLF EKROTH is an independent Finnish fashion label that champions utilitarianism, nostalgia and the power of sustainably produced clothes. Built upon observations of youth and life in Finland, it harnesses the subtle nuances of its Finnish roots but applies freedom to reimagining history and old crafting traditions. Comfortably perched between superficiality and profundity, it is an homage to the transformation that well-designed clothes elicit: a newfound will to walk through the world without hiding.