Home—specifically the linen closet—is where the heart is for Laura Tønder, a Dane based in Spain, who last month launched Kettel Atelier, a line of one-off garments made from vintage home textiles and deadstock fabrics. As the designer gets ready to post her second drop this Sunday, August 20, she shares an exclusive sneak peek with Vogue Runway.
Tønder’s face and perky style is likely familiar to those who follow Vogue Runway’s street style coverage. This blonde is unafraid of color and experimentation and in this, the designer says on a call, she takes after her “flamboyant” paternal grandmother, a Norwegian who moved to Denmark “for love,” and who is represented in the new capsule in the form of a stretchy pleated floral. Kettel Atelier is a family affair through and through; Tønder’s mother taught her her to sew, knit, and crochet, and her father, a collector of vintage automobiles, gave the designer a love for vintage. He also lent his last name to this project. (Tønder was given her mother’s maiden name in order to carry it on.)
In addition, this Dane embraces the messiness of an existence. “Part of [my] manifesto is that things are part of life,” says the designer, who loves to find beauty in imperfections; like placing drape to hide a stain or embroidering a small flower over a tear. “Would you stop wearing a bag because it has a little scratch? No. You don’t do that because you spent like 2000 Euros on the bag,” she observes. “I think we have to let our clothes live a little bit.”
Working with flea market finds allows Tønder to stay at a price point that keeps Kettel pieces fairly accessible. Access to good design at fair prices is the mantra of Scandinavian design, and it’s what this designer appreciates about what she sees in her hometown. “I feel like fashion week in Copenhagen is like a festival. It’s so full of personal style…, it’s about the clothes, it’s like, ‘Hey, we have a bunch of gorgeous girls and guys, we have some really cool clothes, but actually, wearable and actually rather affordable [that] people can wear on and off the runway and in their own way.” One of the interesting things about Kettel Atelier is how Tønder has combined her Danishness with her love of Spain. “I just fell in love with ease, and the way the [women dress], this half-nakedness, the Bohemian vibes; it was something that completely blew me away,” she says. There’s a body consciousness to Tønder’s designs that is surprising. Surely, a grandmother never imagined the flowers hand–embroidered on a napkin winkling referring to nipples on a h