Jade Cropper: Where the Heart Is

Jade: For me, love is the most important human emotion. Love makes you happy. I think we could show more love. There is a love for family, friends, nature – everything. The last time I experienced this feeling was just after my first show during Copenhagen Fashion Week. Working around the clock for so many weeks and then finally showing my collection was a mixture of happiness, relief, excitement and gratitude. I love my work so much and I love everyone who has believed in me and helped me just as much. I can’t imagine doing anything else but this. I have always loved being creative. When I started making clothes, I felt I had arrived and felt a joy that I didn’t know before. I’m a pretty introverted person, so what I do now has become my way of expressing myself. 

I make my creative space feel like home and retreat into my own world where I focus on what inspires me the most: art, music, books, and design. And then there’s my grandmother. 

She is the woman with the greatest inspiration for me. I want to transfer her confidence and uniqueness through my collection. She was an extraordinary person who lived her life exactly the way she wanted to. I always admired her way of living: a free soul, independent and self-confident. She dared to be aware of her uniqueness. I myself am an introvert. The clothes I design express a different version of myself. My grandmother inspires me in the way she lived her life. When I started designing, I didn’t even realise that, but I eventually recognised that I always go back to that alter ego – she is a kind of ‘base’ for me. I want to amplify and explore the feeling that fashion can give in terms of identity. That’s why I always build my collection around a feeling. I work a lot with my hands, draping and sketching, and then from that I find interesting cuts and details for my creations. Things emerge, it’s always a surprise. I see femininity as a feeling of itself. Femininity does not have a certain look. Femininity for me is strength, self-confidence and the feeling of freedom. Since I deal with identity a lot, I’m very curious about the impact clothes have on us. 

I try to see beauty and love in everything on a daily basis. That reminds me, I just got to experience the magic of love. It was ‘the moment’ shortly after my first show at Copenhagen Fashion Week. When you work around the clock for so many weeks and then finally show your collection, it’s an indescribable mix of all kinds of feelings.  I experienced so much love that day.

This February, Swedish designer Jade Cropper made her debut at Copenhagen Fashion Week. Since launching her label in 2020, Cropper has been selected for the prestigious Swedish Fashion Talents program, and gained significant attention from the industry and on social media. Her studio is in Stockholm and her garments are produced in Sweden.

As featured in SLEEK 72 – LOVE. Available in Print or Digital here.