H Fredriksson, a Swedish designer living in Brooklyn, is quietly helping to change the face of green fashion. Unlike many eco-fashion contemporaries, she doesn't need the "green" label as a selling platform. Her point of view is consistently clean and modern - the clothes are so perfectly designed most customers will make a purchase without knowing the green benefits. We are so happy to have Helena participate in our Designer Database Series.

Paper-Doll: How did you get into fashion design?
Helena Fredriksson: Since I was a little girl I would style people I saw around the city in my mind, I started making clothing for me and my friends as a young teenager, and somehow making clothes made sense to me. When I moved to New York in 97 I was mostly working with photography and painting. A few years later I got invited to do a collaborative runway show, and that’s when my first collection and H Fredriksson was born.

What is the first thing you designed (personally or professionally)?
I think it must be a washed cotton royal blue dress that I made in school at age 12 or so, I didn’t think the pattern I had found worked, so I changed it and made it my own shape….

When did you launch your own label?
I went on my own and started the label in 2004.

What inspires you / your work?
Everything that I encounter in life is part in the inspiration; people, art, film, literature, history, nature, textures, buildings, all kinds of imagery, music, love….

Describe your SS’10 Collection.
The S/S 2010 collection is inspired by the history of film. I draw from the lightness and sensitivity of imagery, the movement and suttellnes of the camera and imagery within the framing. The garments have a strong presence while still feeling light and understated. The movement and draping in the shapes creates a subtle drama that draws the eye without being loud. I believe the pieces to be timeless enough to be relevant for a long time, just like the old great films.

What is your favorite piece from your SS’10 Collection?
The Batik Envelope Dress and the Envelope Cardigan is my everyday faves. (Pictured above)

Did you have a personal soundtrack or a favvorite album that you listened to while working on SS’10?
My husband was finishing producing Scott Matthews new album while I was designing spring, and I think a lot of his very sad, filmic, and beautiful music seeped into the collection.

What area of your work do you enjoy the most?
Making the fabric prints, draping the shapes and creating the evolving identity for the brand is what I love the most with my job. And of course to get to work on different Costume and Art collaborations is always super fun.

What is the most difficult aspect of your job?
The hardest part is to be the designer, the business manager, the strategist, the creative director, the owner and founder of the business all at once. The necessity to keep creative focus while dealing with day to day business is a hard balance to sustain. This is why I would love to find a partner in crime at times.

What is the most surprising thing that has happened to you as a designer?
Life is full of surprises and new things come up all the time… one great project I did a few years back in Japan came out of a story on me in a Japanese magazine and the offer totally took me by surprise and ended up being an amazing experience and a great continuous collaboration.

If you could collaborate with any designer / artist / musician / etc. on a single project, who would it be and what would you do?
There are so many projects that would be amazing to do. Seeing William Kentridge the nose at the met was such an exceptional contemporary but also grandiose visual experience, and it made me want to work on a collaborative stage performance with someone as interesting in their visual ideas as he is. I have collaborated with many talented artists, and it’s such an inspiring and amazing journey to share.

If you could design a wardrobe for any one person (past/present/real/fictional), who would it be?
There are so many great people I would love to design for, but one person that I would really enjoy to create a wardrobe for is Tilda Swinton. I love her sense of style, individuality and beautiful androgynous look.

How would you describe your own personal style?
A mix of H Fredriksson, classic staples, vintage finds and collected accessories from around the world. It’s all about the silhouette, shape and details for me. I love to play w juxtapositions in shape and volume.

What is your favorite item in your personal wardrobe?
So many things…. My favorite 70’s vintage wood heel tall boots, my amazing African, black and white breastplate and of course some of my vintage pieces that I’ve collected over the years.

Where do you shop for clothes when you're not wearing your own?
I mostly shop vintage or trade pieces with designer friends.

What is on your current fashion wish list?
Several beautiful pieces by mostly Belgian designers that could never afford.

What fashion trend would you not be caught dead in?
I would never wear frills and bows and sugary girly style stuff.

What is the one item that every woman should have in her closet?
A great coat, boot and blazer.

What is your favorite thing about the city you live in?
I love New York because it is filled with people and culture from all over the world. It gives the city a very open minded energy that is hard to find anywhere else. And that is very creatively inspiring.

If you couldn’t be a fashion designer, what other area of interest would you like to explore?
I would explore more conceptual and visual media and probably work as an artist.

What is next for your label?
At the moment, I am working on a project that will be published as part of a new fashion book, and I am also creating a new wardrobe for Ana from the Scissor Sisters which is a treat. And of course the new S/S 2011 is in the works and I am super excited about the direction.

Visit: H Fredriksson