Fosaa Designs: Exceptional handmade designs inspired by the nature of the Faroe Islands

In a world of constantly changing fashions and shifting moods it is refreshing to come across genuine craftsmanship and original ideas. Creating beautiful pieces made to be cherished for years, Fosaa Designs takes its inspiration from the magnificent and untamed nature of the Faroe Islands, and in every way stays true to its commitment to slow fashion.

Housed in Hoyvík, this small independent artisan company creates bespoke handbags, purses and jewellery. The two women behind Fosaa Designs are Malan and Oda Fosaa, a close-knit mother and daughter team, who run all aspects of the business together. Every piece in the collection is of the highest quality and truly one of a kind, skilfully designed, created and handmade by the pair.

Malan learnt how to sew and work with animal skins and leather in Sønderborg, Denmark. When she finished her education there, she returned to the Faroe Islands and took up an apprenticeship in the timber trade. After 40 years and at the age of 54, she quit her job and started Fosaa Designs in 2012. She made a decision to work with materials found on her native island and to create something new. “I started the business with a wish to create something that no one else does here on the Faroe Islands,” she explains.

She was clearly on to a good thing because her bags were an instant success and ever since her first line was introduced, she has continued to sell every single item produced. Her daughter Oda joined in 2013, and the pair have continued to develop a very successful and independent brand of distinctive, local designs. “I don’t want to create our products anywhere else,” says Malan.

Fosaa Designs has been approached by several other companies keen to invest in a growing business and to increase manufacturing, but mother and daughter choose to keep it in-house, and have no desire to expand or outsource their production.

Natural Nordic materials

“We consider the colours and trends around us when we start thinking about new designs,” Oda says. “And then we go through the process of creating and producing new items together.” They create each product jointly, from the initial design to the finished product, and with a firm handle on every step of the process. All materials are natural Nordic skins and natural by-products of other industries.

Fosaa Designs offers stunning pieces inspired by the beautiful nature on the Faroe Islands, from the rugged mountains to the rolling landscapes, from the wild sea to the vast skies. Each piece is truly one of a kind, and whilst Malan and Oda may remake a model if it is particularly popular, such as the best seller Belt Bag No10, due to the nature of the raw materials, each piece is by definition exclusive and unlike any other.

The pair uses skin from local lamb and fish, such as salmon, cod, and catfish, and sealskins from Greenland. There is no tannery on the Faroe Islands, so the lamb skins are sent to Poland and the fish skins to Iceland, where they are treated and prepared for Malan and Oda to use.

The fish skins are both used as they come, with incredible, intricate and almost inimitable striking patterns, or coloured using natural dies. No chemicals are used in the colouring or treatment process, so each piece is 100 per cent natural. “The salmon skin is incredibly strong and durable, making it the ideal material for bags and purses made to last,” explains Malan.

Some bags are made using a combination of skins, for example seal, salmon and cod, which each have their distinctive texture and colour, helping to create an illusion of the rugged and exquisite landscapes of the Faroe Islands. “We work very much with a slow fashion outlook and focus,” Oda says. The skins and raw materials are expensive and each bespoke item is made with a specific purpose to be used. There is no mass production and never will be, and as Malan says; “it’s just more special if it’s handmade.”

By the very nature of the materials, no bag, purse, or set of jewellery will ever look the same. The skins and variations in colour and texture differ, just as much as we all differ from one another. Each item is skilfully crafted by hand and truly is a product of nature, meant to be used and appreciated for many years.

You can buy Fosaa Designs’ products on the website or in the Östrøm Faroese Design Store.

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