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Apparently, Phoebe Philo is a hugger.
When Ellen Hodakova Larsson won this year’s LVMH Prize for her brand Hodakova, Philo, who was a jury member, ran up to her at the ceremony in Paris and embraced her warmly. “She was so proud and so happy. She’s just such a humble person,” Larsson explained over Zoom from her quiet, dimly-lit studio in Stockholm a few months after the announcement.
That day was a bit surreal for the soft-spoken, easy-going designer, not only because it marked a promising new chapter for her brand or because hers was the first Swedish label to be awarded the prize, but also because of the company she realized she now shares. “I was standing and chatting with Natalie Portman,” Larsson recalled of another moment at the ceremony. “Marc Jacobs came up to me and sort of pushed her aside a little to say ‘Oh, I can finally meet you!’ I’m so honored to be able to get that kind of a response from these people.”
The hype around Hodakova has been building for some time now. Larsson launched her label in 2021 and since then, she’s gotten on the radar of everyone from Philo to Jacobs to Kylie Jenner. This year, actresses Cate Blanchett and Greta Lee both made headlines wearing her designs—a top made of antique silver spoons and one made of old leather riding boots, respectively. In the fashion industry she’s become a total darling. Her fans love her for the way that she challenges the system with her transformative, trick-the-eye silhouettes, her love of found materials, and her reverence for craft.
Larsson’s designs are handmade in small quantities using upcycled fabrics and materials that she and her team acquire through special partnerships with independent makers. Her runway pieces call to mind the bucolic setting of her upbringing on a horse farm outside of Stockholm. A familiarfamiliar garment like an argyle sweater, for example, will be tweaked into the realm of the weird with the addition of a pencil skirt made entirely out of cross-woven belts.
