Olga van Zeijl

Department: Man and Communication
Website: olgavanzeijl.com knittid.com

knittID

What can your sweater say about you? Quite a bit if the designer is Olga van Zeijl. In this collection, she brings the Dutch tradition of incorporating personal details in fishermen’s knits into the modern age. By using recognisable symbols, from XTC pills to parachutes, she adds an intimate dimension that reveals something about the wearer’s personal tastes and pastimes. It’s a way of expressing individuality amid growing globalisation and mass consumerism. “Cultures are losing their traditions; authenticity is getting harder to find,” she explains. Everyone is different, why keep that under wraps?