A unique collaboration between The Royal Swedish Opera, sustainability designer Louise Xin, and the Textile Fashion Center.
The Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm is Sweden’s national stage for opera and ballet and is a well-established cultural institution in Sweden and the world, known for its high quality and excellent reputation. In 2023, the Opera celebrates its 250th anniversary. A key focus during the anniversary year is to highlight centuries of craftsmanship that have been passed down and continue to shape the Opera’s approach, as well as to showcase the Opera’s ability to work with sustainability and reuse.
As an expression of this, in the summer of 2023, three students at the Swedish School of Textiles under the guidance of Louise Xin, created unique couture designs using garments from the Royal Swedish Opera’s costume archive as materials.
The students sketched, cut, reconstructed, redesigned, and interpreted with inspiration from their chosen works from the opera’s history. The result is 13 unique creations, with Louise Xin creating a final piece.
These creations were showcased in an exclusive catwalk event in the Golden Foyer of The Royal Swedish Opera in September 2023. They are now on display at the Textile Museum of Sweden in Swedens textile capital, celebrating quality, craftsmanship, history, sustainability, and creativity.
The creations are for sale. All proceeds go to the activities for children and young people at the Royal Swedish Opera through the Young Opera Appeal.
