There’s just a couple of weeks left before September arrives and plunges most of us back into total fall and winter trends. Days are getting shorter and nights are not as hot as they used to be, so if you’re looking for nice summer dresses that might keep you also a bit warm and that you might still be able to wear in September/October if you live in a warm country or even in the next summer season, try Erica Laurell‘s crocheted dresses. This young Swedish designer first started working on bikinis and bathing suits inspired by the ‘60s and ‘70s and by French movies from the Nouvelle Vague movement, and on hats, bags, scarves and small accessories such as hairpins and necklaces. She recently expanded her collections adding dresses and mixing fabric and crochet, creating very interesting bathing suits, clothes and headgear that evoke the atmospheres of Julian Jarrold’s Brideshead Revisited (though here it’s more a case of handmade woollens….) created by Irish costume designer Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh. It’s easy to imagine Laurell’s flapper-like black crocheted headbands and coloured gloves becoming a hit even in winter (especially with global warming affecting the planet and fashion trends). Till then, here’s a brief Q&A with Erica to know more about her. 
When did you first start crocheting?
I learnt crocheting when I was five years old from my grandmother, that’s when I basically started. Then I went to Paris to study at the Studio Berçot where I worked on crocheting and knitwear. I did special knitwear classes in my second year followed by an internship for a knitwear designer here in Stockholm, Dedicated Follower of Fashion.
What did you learn from your internship at Fors and Yazbukey in Paris?
Being the company very small I had the chance of following everything they did and this helped me also learning the business part of it, such as where you buy fabrics, since Maria Fors does everything by herself.
Where is your production based?
All the production is based in Sweden and I have ladies who live all over the country and do the crocheting for me. I found them after I put an ad on a paper in Stockholm and an ad on the Internet. I also have a factory in Büros in the middle of Sweden, but it produces very small quantities at the moment. Usually I do all the design, then I do the prototypes myself and send them to the factory so they can get on with the production.
Do you think courses in fashion can really help people who want to get into the industry?
Studying in an institution helped me a lot since I met a lot of people and made good contacts. But work experiences and internships are also important as they give you the chance of putting into practice what you learn. I learnt a lot about the handcraft by working at the Opera House for example. I also worked at H&M for one year and a half and, though this was a very different experience from what I have been doing for myself, it gave me an opportunity to learn a lot.
Where do you see yourself in a few years’ time?
I’m learning all the time and I’m getting better and better. The new collection also features more dresses and small accessories, so, hopefully, in a couple of years’ time my collections will be all over Sweden and other countries as well. There’s been a lot of pressure about crocheting on magazines, so even younger people like it nowadays.
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