Thora Stefansdottir

Thora Stefansdottir (Guðbjörg Þóra Stefánsdóttir is an Icelandic fashion and textile designer coming from the North of Iceland. She moved to London in the year 2014 and is still residing there after just finishing her undergraduate degree in Fashion print at Central Saint Martins. She has interned at Versace where she worked on their Versace Jeans Couture Collection, Marc Jacobs RTW and Chanel Metiers D‘arts – Maison Lemarie, developing samples for RTW and Couture. During her time in Iceland during the hight of the pandemic, she worked with the Icelandic Textile Center on a project that ended in 2020 called ‘Bridging textiles to the digital future‘. The project was funded by Rannís where they documented and digitalised hundreds of old weaving patterns which were almost forgotten. Raised by a weaver, Stefansdottir grew up surrounded by looms and has a deep appreciation for making material from scratch. Her innate sensitivity is as intrinsic as her relationship with fabric, the creative process often becoming personal and obsessive. Stefansdottir physically puts herself into the project by printing garments with graphics of herself scantily clad and draping fabrics. They expose how she scrutinised her body during, extinguishing any self-criticism in a vivid rainbow of fabrics and avant-garde silhouettes. Described as ‘therapeutic clothing’ by the designer, each piece is designed to evoke healing and self-respect.