A shift in direction in 2008 enabled Anne Berit Anti to tell the story of her people through fashion. With one foot in modernity and one in tradition, she invites everyone to wear original creations inspired by life on the tundra.
With her light-coloured hair, wide-rimmed glasses and precise, probing gaze, Anne Berit Anti runs her ready-to-wear boutique in Tromsø with a warm and curious air. “Tourists often come into my shop and ask me for traditional costumes or hats, but that’s not what I do. So I apologise for not being able to offer them something, because it belongs to my people,” the designer tells us after meeting her in the company of woollen scarves, trousers and jewellery. “I offer creations inspired by Sami culture; it’s a form of invitation, or initiation. In the end, tourists are very happy because they sense a form of authenticity. When I make my creations, I’m not thinking about tourists, but about the Sami people.”
Born into a family of reindeer herders in the village of Karasjok in Finnmark, Anne Berit Anti has created a meeting place for modern culture and tradition. The modern can wrap themselves in merino wool marked with cultural references, and the Sami can represent their culture in everyday life. Initially, she wanted to develop a design aimed at Sami women for parties, concerts or meetings. This didn’t really exist in the late 2000s. “Today, there are a few more of us doing it, and I hope that young people will come and take over,” she explains.
“My imagination was running wild”
Her taste for clothing design came one spring when she was with her family on a transhumance. The reindeer had to leave their winter quarters and head for the coast. “The tundra was white, the sky was white and the sun was bright and dazzling. My imagination was running wild and I thought of black and white clothes in the nature”, she recalls. “I had never sewn anything at that time.”
This feeling never left her, even though she was working as a journalist. She made a few traditional costumes, with the help of her aunt, and enjoyed it. “I said to myself that being a fashion designer also means telling stories,” she remembers. “So why not give it a go?”
A journey of initiation
The art school in Oslo responded to her requests. To apply, she had to show a few photographs of original pieces. So she invites a few friends for a shoot at -30°C, on top of a mountain. Sadly, everyone caught a cold, but she was selected for the oral. In 2008, she moved to Oslo to study for three years.
The trip takes her far from Sami territory. She worries about her 10-year-old son, who may not be able to continue learning his language in Oslo, or even the history of his people. In the end, what might have seemed like a break turned out to be a return to her roots. “I decided to work hard with him at home and pass on our culture, language and history,” she explains. On the agenda, for example, was the Alta conflict, where the Sami went on hunger strike to protest against the Norwegian authorities who wanted to build a dam to produce hydroelectric power and thus submerge a Sami village. Anne Berit Anti’s uncle took part in this movement, as did many others at the time.
“I used to take my son with me when I did my schoolwork. His feedback, his comments, his reactions helped me to understand the needs of the Sami culture for survival. He designed the lavvu [traditional tent, editor’s note], a symbol that is closest to my heart today”, she explained, pointing to a symbol on a trouser leg.
White, black and red
A women’s version of the luhkka (a winter garment) hasn’t left her repertoire since graduating in 2011. It has been on her shelves for over ten years. New items have been added over time, through research and hard work. Like bonnets reminiscent of old-fashioned headdresses, thin mittens or children’s overalls. Anne Berit Anti draws inspiration from the tundra way of life, nature, traditional cuts and patterns, but never reproduces them. “Otherwise, it’s a bit like sawing off the cultural branch you’re sitting on,” she points out. “I use my colors: black, white, gray and red. I don’t know why, but I always come back to them; it’s the common thread running through my entire collection.” As for traditional costumes, they use blue, red and yellow.
“Sometimes I think black would be blue, white would be yellow, and red is still red,” she explains. “Red is a color that relates to everything: you have love, soul and strength. And we need that in these times, we’re fighting against a lot of things.”
Isn’t black and white a nostalgic point of view? Or an imperative tone to remind us of the existence of Sami culture? Or simply a reference to that vision in the dazzling sunlight of the tundra? And the red? Could it be a link between cultures?
“You didn’t go to Paris”
After her studies, Anne Berit Anti return to Karasjok and five years ago she move to Tromsø . There, she work occasionally for the Sami media Avvir as journalist, and open a street-side boutique in the city center. “Initially, my ambition was to reach the whole world, travel to Paris and take part in these major fashion events. But in the end, I feel I’ve achieved my goal since Tromsø, because here, the world comes to you. I recently said to myself: you didn’t go to Paris, but Paris came to you.”
Staying in Tromsø hasn’t stopped her from expanding her field of action to Kiruna, Sweden, where she designs costumes for the Giron Sami theater company. Ánte Siri’s play Jorribiegga deals with the arrival of wind turbine manufacturers in the region. “It’s a problem,” she remarks. “Being with the Samis here is funny because we’re the same people, but we don’t see each other that much.”
Camille Lin, Polar Journal AG
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