A Closer Look | ‘swaan’ Scarf
A new addition to An Irrational Element’s miscellaneous category is the ‘swaan’ Scarf made in The Netherlands from a 100% silk Crepe de Chine.
While digging through old family pictures with my mom she found her mother’s personalized Ex Libris (a label affixed to a book to indicate ownership) with an illustration of a swan and my grandma’s name written below. Since we had a tiny stack of them I kept one with me. From the first time seeing the Ex Libris I had the urge to transform my grandmother’s work into an item that would make sense to create and manufacture. There were options such as having it translated into a leather patch for trousers, being an additional label sewn into garments or even into a fabric on its own. While some of these options are still open for future designs implementation, I turned towards silk scarfs for the initial design as they embody a sense of luxury, femininity and romance to me. A resonating feeling conjures when I think of my grandmother in relationship to the silk scarf design.
The ‘swaan’ Scarf features a repetition of 4 swans which piece by piece align with the 4 corresponding edges of the square scarf. In the center one finds the word ‘swaan’ (my grandmother’s surname) which is a take on the Dutch word for swan ‘zwaan’. Below ‘swaan’ An Irrational Element is printed in the handwriting of my mother.
What is most exciting and fun about the ‘swaan’ Scarf is its simplicity and versatility. While I choose to label it a scarf in reality it’s a square piece of luxury fabric that can be used as not only a scarf but also as head-wear, a top, an accessory for your bag or a multitude of other possibilities.
This simple square embodies An Irrational Element ethos to openness whilst also embodying three generations of my family in conclusion.