We caught up with Merete Heggernes, who founded the brand together with Marianne Omland.
She laughs out loud when asked to describe the relationship between herself and her co-founder: “Oh, we have been friends for more than twenty years now, after originally meeting through our husbands, and we quickly found out that we bonded over a common passion for creativity, fashion and design”, she says. They both shared a dream of building their own brand, but individual efforts had not gone far, so they decided to pool their resources and build something together.
But what about that name, ‘Amateur Stories”, is it a description of their journey as a brand? Again, Merete laughs and gets ready to answer a question she has probably received a thousand times. “People often ask that”, she says. We love this name because it describes our position in this industry in an accurate way, but most of all we love the meaning of the word. Originally it comes from the Latin word amare – to love, so being an amateur simply means doing what you love.” And that is exactly what the ladies at Amateur Stories are doing.
They fully enjoy the whole process, to be creative together, designing garments they love, and not to mention, the exciting hunt for vintage treasures. They both have other jobs, Marianne as a doctor and Merete as a pedagogical adviser, but they are building the brand step by step in their spare time – and loving the journey.
Kimonos are the main element in the Amateur Stories fashion line. They offer both tailored-made kimonos and vintage kimonos. “When we started Amateur Stories, we discussed what kind of clothes we wanted to design, what we both would like to have in our closet. We agreed that we wanted to deliver versatile, usable and timeless garments that could add nicely to into a capsule wardrobe”, tells Merete.
“We were also very inspired by the Scandinavian and Japanese aesthetics, which have a lot of similarities; the minimalistic expression, the clear cuts and the respect for materials,” she continues. “The kimono is a beautiful garment in every way!” she exclaims. It fits almost any occasion; it fits most body types and stands the test of time. The whole look of it can easily change by using different kinds of fabric and that makes the creative process very exciting, because it allows them to play with a lot of different textures and silhouettes.
They also treasure hunt for vintage kimonos and leftover fabrics – beautiful garments and textiles that are already made and can be reused, redesigned or repaired. In Japan, repair of broken things is desirable, and the repaired item is perceived to have a higher value than before, because of the history it contains.
This method for highlighting scars with silver or gold is called Kintsugi and tapping into this philosophy, Amateur Stories have introduced this to their clothing brand, by using golden thread in some of their vintage kimonos.
Merete underlines the concept of “slow fashion” being very important for their brand. Buying a kimono from Amateur Stories is not a spur-of-the-moment decision, so consequently, the focus on quality and exclusivity is natural for Amateur Stories. Customers are invited to attend Fashion Salons where they can see the product range and discuss options. Each kimono is then made to order, so the entire process takes some time, giving the customer plenty of opportunities to ensure they are happy with their choice. “If you are lucky you might also get your hands on a vintage kimono, which we call “The Golden kimono,” Merete says. These are one of a kind, totally exclusive, and they are launched at their Instagram profile when they are ready to be sold. These are not possible to pre order, so you just have to follow and keep an eye to their Instagram feed.
“The Basic kimono” is made of natural fibers, like cotton, wool and silk,” Merete says. Furthermore, they do not produce more than they sell, and all production is done according to the philosophy of ethical production. A chance encounter at the fashion and textile exhibition; Premiere Vision in Paris in 2019, steered them in the direction of a family-owned producer in India which suited their company philosophy, they were also keen to work with Amateur Stories on smaller batches of products. This gives them the flexibility to be innovative whilst knowing that production is done according to ethical standards.
Amateur Stories makes small and exclusive collections, and by staying true to their philosophy of slow fashion there is no compromise on quality.
