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PIA WALLEN
Swedish designer
I was brought up in a family that was interested in design — Marimekko, Alvar Aalto — so this was natural for me. At design school, the teachers had us look at our folk-art traditions. Felting is one of the world's oldest textile techniques, and that's how I discovered knitted and felted wool. My connection with the folk-art tradition was very strong when I was just out of design school. You can see the connection in my products. But my work is also modern and made with today's production methods. Mass production isn't a bad thing. Most designers couldn't survive without mass production. I think it would be sad if people wanted certain products but could not have them. My slippers are an example. One person gave the slippers to her mother, who was in the hospital. Staff and other patients asked for them, which made me think about finding different ways to reach people with certain products. With items like my cross blankets, that would be impossible. The blankets cannot be mass produced at the moment. They are made by a small family company with very old machines. They can only do five a day.
Scandinavian design has a strong connection between function and shape. When I designed my silver bracelet, I wanted it to be lined in felt because I couldn't wear my silver in the cold of winter. Some people said, 'Oh, it gets dirty!' But it's felted wool and you can wash it by hand. I want to create perfect products, both in design and function. Sometimes you have to wait for solutions. This year, I took over production of the slippers. There had been some production problems, and I wanted to develop the sole. So I put rubber dots on it. I first made the slippers in 1992. Now I think it's the end. I can't develop them any more. I know my working methods may be unusual. I want the product to appeal to the customer's heart. And I want to be the ultimate in all these areas: in quality, in practicality, in design.