Norwegian design label Anti-Sweden started their crusade to bring back leather rebellion into the jeans industry. Clothes apt for posing, not for posers.
 
From the land of the long nights, where once wolves howled grimly to the burning fires of hi tuned guitars and speed riffs, now comes a brand of jeans to rule them all. (Imagine rolling thunders to complete the epic introduction). Anti-Sweden has been around us since last March, friendly-competing with Swedish neighbor brands such as Acne and Cheap Monday.

Their black collectable unisex jeans keep the straight simple design hip with wonderful details like yellow buttons and pockets illustrated by American “black metal-esque” artist Justin Barlett. The idea behind the brand is to bring back the original rebelliousness of the jeans culture by drawing inspiration from the pulsing heart of their cold country: the black metal sub-culture. What else can we say about that but “Welcome back to Det Som Engang Var”? How more true can you get if Satyricon is wearing your jeans?

Their amazing website is no surprise, coming from the hands of Kjetil Wold, one of the founders and former members of Bleed, and Kenneth Pedersen’s new project. They have been working together for a long time and now they gave shape to their denim graphic design studio, ANTI (A New Type of Interference). We have recently spoken with Kjetil, who has been nice enough to answer our questions. Having Manhattan Skyline play at the presentation of your jeans is surely having some guts. Way to go, Kjetil!


 
How did you live the norwegian black metal movement in the 80’s?

For me the black Metal movement in the 80’s represented the most utter rebellion you could come up with and a whole new way of communicating through music. Of course, the press loved all the fuzz and extreme stuff. I, myself, was not a part of the scene as I was playing in a local band inspired more by punk and the early Seattle scene, at the moment.
 
Name three bands that you would feel embarrased to know they wear your jeans.

I’d rather mention three bands I´m proud they´re wearing our jeans: Sunn O))), Satyricon and Manhattan Skyline.
 
How did you start up Anti?

I was one of the founders and Creative Director at Bleed. I started Anti about one year and a half ago together with my partner Kenneth Pedersen who is our managing partner, partly because we grew too big and I wanted more focus on the creative part of the job. The other reason was that I wanted to start up Anti-Sweden, where I could use my experience from working with apparel brands such as Levi´s and Diesel to create a brand of our own.
 
What's the deal with Sweden?
 
You somehow need to be a Scandinavian to get that part of it. Norway and Sweden have always been in a friendly fight, and lately the Swedes have got a lot of attention for their jeans labels, such as Acne and Cheap Monday. We thought it was about time we showed them how to do it with a Norwegian perspective. Jeans have always been a rebellious product. Lately it has lost all the energy and rawness that it originally had. Using our genuine cultural history -of the only rebellious sub culture left- we felt that we could once again put rebellion back to jeans.
 
What's your favourite alcoholic drink to endure the long winters?

Løitens Aquavit, it´s definitely a favorite of mine.
 
Besides Black Metal, what else inspires your true solid asthetics?

Anti is an acronym for A New Type of Interference and I always look for the interference in our aesthetics. I love a solid craftsmanship on typography and I’m also attracted to the conceptualization. It doesn’t need to be in the open, but small details and subtle messages make of works completely different ones from the ones that just are made to be nice.


 
What are your plans with this project? Will we be seeing some new clothes soon?

We launched in March and have experienced an amazing interest around the brand. We are currently working with a couple of exciting collaborations from artists we admire. Also we have started a collaboration with a Japanese designer, Satoshi Niibori.
 
It seems that the Petcha Kutcha night was amazing. How was the response to your music in that new environment?

Thanks! It was an amazing act. The audience wasn’t just our regular fans and I think some were not expecting this from a jeans presentation. But it definitely put the values of our brand in the right context. Manhattan Skyline did an amazing job playing to the slideshow- movie that we made. Fredrik Melby, the guitarist of the band, is also the designer behind our Anti Sweden graphics, so he knows his ways around the genre. I think we made a good last act for this year’s last Petcha Kutcha night in Norway!
 
We feel that things that were diametrically opposites to the fashion scene (geeks and metal, for example) are starting to grow their own fashion identity. How do you feel about this?

I think there is a time now for new thoughts, new approaches to fashion and new business models. The metal scene has been inspirational for the fashion scene for many years. Anti Sweden is a brand not only being inspired by, but having the knowledge and hands-on experience with the culture. I think this is the only way to start growing a fashion identity: being true to the concept and then developing it from that position.