Meet Saskia Kjellström
Hello Saskia, good to have you here.
Please introduce yourself
I am a third culture kid; half Italian and half Swedish and maybe that is why I have felt home in Denmark right in between my two countries, and have stayed here since I graduatedfrom Kaospilot five years ago. Today I am a fashion designer, currently studying garment construction at VIA University in Herning. My biggest love is clothes; how they are made, what they are made of, how people express themselves through them and empowering people to make conscious responsible decisions when choosing what to wear.
Which team and when did you graduate?
I started out with Team 20 2013, but was dealing with depression at the time and had to take a studybreak and started again with Team 22 and graduated in 2018.
What have you been doing since you graduated as a Kaospilot
For my final project I started a clothing library in Aarhus; The Clothing Club. I spent a year after graduating developing the collection of clothes, marketing the concept and growing a community around it. I wanted to bring people that love clothes together and share clothes in the most fun, sustainable and cheap way. The concept was adopted by the volunteers and is still running. If you ever visit it, there is a big likelihood that you recognize pieces from many legendary KP party outfits.
Meanwhile I was also developing my own sustainable fashionbrand SASKEYE Studios and through that got offered to host sewing workshops in different places. It was going really well and I had so much fun teaching when the pandemic hit and Denmark went into full lockdown. So I focused more on sewing my own things and figured out that I was the happiest when I got to design, and give life to my own ideas. So I decided to go back to school and become even better at the complex world of garment construction. But I miss teaching people how to sew, and wish to do that as well once I finished with my education.
What is important for you in your job?
Having a clear purpose and freedom to be creative in how to reach goals. And no doubt the people and culture. feeling that there is room for laughter and tears, mutual respect and a little bit of everyday magic.
Before Kaospilot I found it really hard to work with other people
What major learnings would you point out from your experience that have shaped you as a leader?
Life is so much more fun when it is shared with other people. Before Kaospilot I found it really hard to work with other people, I was young and I hadn’t practiced setting boundaries, and being “stuck” with people really scared me. Therefore I would always do all parts of my projects myself even the ones I really didn’t enjoy and wasn’t good at such as economy and structure. After KP I dared to ask for help and build a community around my vision and I found people that loved doing economy and structure, which also made the work so much more fun, when we could celebrate, discuss, plan and dream together. All volunteers from The Clothing Club will always be my friends and have a special place in my heart and I am so thankful that they chose to continue doing the work when I wanted to move on.
What is your biggest source for inspiration right now?
I am currently looking a lot inwards. Since discovering that fashiondesign is my preferred creative language I am digging deep into my 32 years of life and finding out how my unique experience of being alive can translate into a visual expression and a translation of how I want to honor our shared current existence. When I need a break from myself I spend time trying to understand quantum physics and the secrets of our universe and the latest phenomenons in the digital world. Digital fashion is a very interesting new world that is opening up completely new possibilities with 3D, VR and AI.
What would be an example of a learning or an experience from your time at Kaospilot that has been important to you?
Anything is possible. Really. Believe it enough and it will happen.
The biggest Kaospilot cliché of them all is also the most true one: Trust the process
What is a piece of advice that you would like to give future Kaospilot graduates?
Take time, dwell on things but also just do stuff. The biggest Kaospilot cliché of them all is also the most true one: Trust the process.
It takes time after graduation to find your place in the world, and that is okay. Stay in touch with people. Ask for things, more often than you know you will get what you want and if not, at least you know you tried.