Oslo Nights

Tradition meets innovation; the philosophy behind the brand Sptzbrgn.

The Norwegian national day 17^th of May is just around the corner. If you are a male and want that little extra this year, a designer tie from Sptzbrgn could make you stand out from the ordinary crowd of black suit and boring tie.

Modern meets traditions
Jarle Hagen and Tanja Holmen are the creators of Sptzbrgn, a design label that focuses on handicrafted ties with inspiration from the Norwegian folk costume bunad. Their collection of ties is an immense example on how to combine modern fashion with culture traditions.

Starting point
Jarle has worked as a designer and Art Director for many years and tells Oslo Nights where he got the idea of making these extraordinary ties for men:

- It was during a visit to New York that I started to play with the thought of creating costume embroidery on ties. I never wanted to make a big production out of it, but rather focus on making something exceptional and of high quality, says Hagen.

Collection
And well made is a precise description of these unique and timeless creations. The price is a bit stiff, yet they are hand embroidered and assembled by hand, the craft quality is excellent, and only Norwegian wool has been used in production.

The collection gives you 22 costume ties, and every single tie has its own type of embroidery with inspiration from East, West, Middle or North Norwegian folk costumes.

Success
The brand won the Award for Design Excellence by the Norwegian Design Council last year and Jarle tells us the key to success:

- I believe it’s the way we have been branding Sptzbrgn that has contributed to our great success. You can’t just buy one of these ties in some ordinary store, you either have to order them online or find a specific store that sells them. I also feel that the ties resemble real Norwegian culture and give you a feeling of belonging to your home place, says Hagen.

So if you don’t want to go all out in a full male bunad, why not pimp your hipster outfit with a costume bunad tie for this year’s national day?

Words: Henrikke H. Havaas

Photos: Sptzbrgn