Mona Cordes is a London based Fashion Print designer of German heritage. We are happy to feature her collection ‘SELSHAMOUR ~ HIDE + SEAM’ she finished this summer. Along analogue photographs that are showcasing Mona’s collection and were also taken by her there is also the fashion show video directed by Connor.

“This collection is the result of my Masters I did at Kingston university in Fashion design and specialised within digital print for it. Due to Covid-19 and studios being closed I switched from doing an all round screen-printed collection to digitalising my print ideas.
To create ‘SELSHAMOUR ~ HIDE + SEAM’ I went home to Germany to complete collection for a couple of months.

For ‘SELSHAMOUR ~ HIDE + SEAM’ I did my show socially distanced at Hampstead Heath at the Hill garden + Pergola which I streamed on Zoom and am here is the clip from it.

The collection is based on the theme of supernatural beings and Scandinavian myths.

I took the mysterious nature, the hidden and secret elements of the underworld, into today’s world and gave them a modern aesthetic of my own.
Elements of nature: earth, fire, air and water play an important role in the supernatural realm. The different characters in sagas, pens inspired me to take characters out for my final looks. For example a troll, a demon that brings people’s bad dreams at night, a light fairy or Logi, the firefighter.

Nordic mythology is a rich source of inspiration for my collection and therefore my print visualisation. I have covered the main nature elements – water, air and fire.
I am using myths and nature to guide me when finding my colour scheme, pattern and collection outcome. To illustrate these creatures’ magical powers I wrote a piece for the Troll Look dress print: “Undercover activists, trees erupt, sky sinks, sun burns, wings fly, oceans ride wild, species create, superpowers emerge.” All print designs are mine.
For my title – “Selshamur” is an old Icelandic story about seal hide.
Seals can take off their skin and dance in the night naked. The meaning is similar to the Scottish word Selkie in Scottish mythology. If seen by humans they can lose their bond to the ocean and be taken away from their territory. There is a link to fashion as humans wear clothes to protect, enhance, decorate and hide our body. Another aspect is that I am secretly showing my love (SelshAMOUR) to the theme.

It was a huge success for myself to organise the whole show and get a great group of creatives together ~ sadly I had no choice and couldn’t invite guests to attend even I did it outside. I had to minimise contact.
Everyone worked together well, with both hair & make up, the filmmakers Asia & Connor also.
I’m impressed what the result has come to, without any university support. I’m stoked to continue my passion and I’m starting to think what I can do for my next collection. Hopefully Covid will blow over soon…

The show day happened on 27/09 + was screened at 4pm, the way Asia captured the film sequences and with Liam’a sequence inputs, Connor’s editing we got a nice piece which shows an all round view to the event. I appreciate Connor’s work on this and he used my reference ideas in an excellent creative way which works with my quirky aesthetic.
Applause to everyone involved. Onto more adventures and future collections. Stay tuned 🦋 !

– Mona

Mona’s website shows a few of the images and other series/ editorials and she also launched her online shop.

Find Mona’s works also on Instagram @princess_moona, @mona_co_garms & @mona_co_photos

“I’ve always been drawn to Mona’s designs by her ability to weave together a surprising array of colour and pattern. The experience I had on the shoot ironically encapsulated a similar diversity. The crew was essentially a gathering of ragtag freelance creative’s stitched together by a single thread: Mona Cordes, and was a pleasant reminder of the joys to be had from spontaneous collaboration with strangers. I can only hope that we managed to capture the bewildering fantasy that the Selshamour Collection demands.”

– Connor, film director