Interview with Mrs. Murphy

Posted by Tiffany on January 1st, 2010    2 Comments »

Malin Ehlin in the “Young Designers” section at Formex, August 2009. Photo: fromsthlm.com

Boy do I have a treat for you. This month’s designer, Malin Ehlin of Mrs. Murphy is not only super creative and oh so stylish, she has a unique take on the world and her work. So I thought I’d let her explain in her own words!

Exclusive interview with Mrs. Murphy

FS: So I’ve met you Malin a couple of times. I know you’re the mastermind here. But who’s Mrs. Murphy?

ME: Mrs. Murphy contacted me a couple of years ago and wanted me to be her new assistant. She had had me under surveillance for a while and thought that I was ready to come and work for her in 2006. It sounded very interesting but now I know why she wanted a assistant… So that she could go shoe-shopping all over the world while someone stayed at the office to do all the work… But she always brings me back vintage champagne so I’m pretty satisfied anyhow.

FS: Ok, so Mrs. Murphy remains a mystery. But how do we see her influence in the collection?

ME: I usually say that “Mrs. Murphy’s world of design is like a cocktail party where to you as a client always have a standing invitation…!” Her design has a touch of her way of living. Things and life have to be fun. She wears leopard dresses, high heels and is in love with Toulouse Lau Trec!

Trivet and cocktail coasters from Mrs. Murphy’s “She is my girl” line.

FS:What themes do you like to work with?

ME: So far I have 4 lines in my brand. The first two were Tattoo and Pinup-inspired, that’s because I just love everything that goes with the old classic pinups. My two latest lines were kind of a surprise even for me since they are old Swedish traditional patterns. Generally you can say that I work with retro or old designs but in a new way. I’m not a typical minimalistic Swedish designer.

Wallpaper from Mrs. Murphy’s “Sign your name across my heart” line.

FS: Where do you go for inspiration?

ME: Most of my inspiration comes from old movie posters from about 1920-1950. Or old posters in general. My biggest idols are Toulouse Lau Trec and Alfonso Mucha. In the US today there is a vibrant gigposter scene, but unfortunately we here in Sweden don’t work with posters as much as we could.

FS: I love the story behind the “Patterns of Lost Times” line. Will you tell it?

ME: “Patterns of Lost Times” are old patterns from the mittens that people wore in the wintertime with their traditional folk costumes. Every small village had their own patterns and colors. The ones I have used are from the towns of Mora, Orsa and Särna, all in Dalarna.

Picking the patterns was pretty easy. My grandmother is from Särna, my mom lives in Orsa and I myself was brought up in Mora.

“Patterns of lost times” inspired by the traditional mittens of three generations.

FS: And how about the Dalecarlia patterns?

ME: Dalecarlia is a updated version of the old Kurbits pattern which is a special pattern from Dalarna where I’m from. Kurbits was very common and used on doors and walls and furniture around the year 1900. Today you see it on the Dalecarlian horse and cloggs.

Traditional patterns adorn the Dalecarlian horse

FS: So you’ve been surrounded by variations of this style all your life. When did you spot the potential in it?

ME: I was pretty surprised myself when I came up with these patterns. Growing up I thought that everything about Kurbits was just soooooo lame! But when I started to do wallpapers for a wallpaper company I kind of saw the potential of doing Kurbits as wallpaper. Back in the days they painted directly on the walls. Today we do not paint on the walls but we do use wallpaper. I think that it had to take all this time for me to appreciate these old patterns and see the value of them. When the Dalecarlia line became so popular (the Museum of National Art bought them) I understood that I was on to something. And now I’m very thankful that I was brought up in Mora and have all that with me.

FS: How are these different from some of your other work?

ME: They are very different since I had been working more with American retro style earlier. But in a sense it is the same. This is old Swedish style (not so retro). I wanted to bring our old heritage up to date and put it on new products so that these wonderful patterns wouldn’t be forgotten.

The Mrs. Murphy Dalecarlia Rättvik pattern on textiles.

FS: You’ve re-interpreted your patterns into so many different forms- I especially love the tile mosaics! How did that one come to you?

ME: Since I’m not an educated pattern designer but an illustrator and graphic designer, I think that I see patterns and products from another perspective. I design a pattern and just think “hmm… What can I put this on?” That’s why you also find silver jewelry in the Dalecarlia collection.

“Patterns of lost times” leave a striking impression as tiles.

FS: How does your creative process work?

ME: I usually see something that triggers my mind. Like when I saw my grandmothers old mittens and I just thought, That would be great as wallpaper. Making the design and the patterns are pretty easy. It’s finding the manufacturers that’s the hard part.

FS: Is there anything that you especially like to see your work on, or places you like to see your products?

ME: I think that “Patterns of Lost Times” work very well on textiles, and it would be cool on ski wear for example. Otherwise I think the products work well together with other typical Swedish brands like Kosta Boda and such.

FS: What are you most excited about right now?

ME: Right now I’m very excited about selling my products on other continents. I started to sell in Japan this fall and it’s going to be very exciting to see what the Americans think about my collections.

FS: Thank you Malin! I’m with you, I can’t wait to find out!

::: All photos from Mrs. Murphy unless otherwise noted. :::

This month… Buy cutting boards from the Mrs. Murphy collection and warm your home with traditional Swedish designs.

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