Osklen

Osklen is a Brazilian luxury brand created by Oskar Metsavaht and now owned by Alpargatas S.A..
Osklen
Osklen is a Brazilian fashion brand based on harmonization of contrasts, in which urban and nature, organic and technological live together.
During the first ten years the influence of sports in the brand became very present. From the year 2000 and on, Osklen began to focus on fashion design and luxury. Osklen makes clothes for people who identify with the lifestyle offered by the brand.
Throughout its history the issues of environmental conservation and socio-environmental education have always been present in the brand’s guidelines.
Osklen’s head office in Rio de Janeiro includes a couture atelier, a photo and design studio, and a marketing and web departments. Osklen has stores in Brazil, Italy, USA, Japan, Greece and Argentina, and also a temporary store in Punta del Este.
Oskar Metsavaht
"My creative process begins with a scene, a story, a style, a concept that I create from something I wanted or lived. From this point, I create the climate, the atmosphere, the looks and attitudes. In most cases, I conceive the campaign even before the collection. Maybe that's why I adore doing the art direction of my photo shoots, to create the atmosphere of the story and make my own films through which I can share what I imagined the scene to be in the beginning of the process. The clothes are designed to be the costumes of my films. And you can "watch” it in every detail of the collection. I'm only satisfied when the proposed elements for each piece, the colors, textures and silhouettes become worn by movie characters that I created.” - Oskar Metsavaht.
His lifestyle, connected to city life, nature, the arts, and "boarding" sports, coupled with his constant need for experimentation, are the sources of inspiration for his creative process. Through his studio to create art projects, like short films, creative strategies and editorial screening exercises for new languages for his ideas, Oskar has been invited to create projects by the Andy Warhol Foundation of Art, a watch series for H. Stern entitled ‘Arpoador’, marketed in Brazil and abroad and a special edition of Absolut vodka, inspired by the city of Rio de Janeiro.
His work has been cited in a thorough study done by the Word Wild Foundation (WWF-UK) and they have named him a "Future Creator”. He is often invited to participate as a speaker on the topic at conferences worldwide, such as the Milano Fashion Summit and the Ethical Fashion Show in Paris. Oskar was invited by American Vogue to attend the event ‘Runway to Green’, a charity fashion show to promote sustainability among brands in the luxury segment.
He is the Founder of ‘E Institute’ (Instituto e), a nonprofit organization located in Rio de Janeiro, dedicated to the promotion of sustainable human development, which develops the e-fabrics project that, in partnership with companies, institutions and research centers, identifies fabrics and materials developed from social and environmental criteria. In 2011, his brand, Osklen, received the title of "emerging luxury brand of the year" in London, and he was pronounced by Fast Company Magazine, as the ‘fourth most innovative person in Brazil and one of the 100 most creative people in the business world’. Oskar Metsavaht was also named a Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO in 2011. In the same year he was invited by Suzy Menkes to be one of the speakers at the International Herald Tribune Luxury Hot Event. Moreover, he was one of the speakers at the SWU, alongside Neil Young and Bob Geldof, amongst others.
This year Oskar was appointed member of the Board of Conselho de Inhotim - the largest nonprofit open-air museum in the world who house collections of contemporary art, which also develop educational and social projects. He also became a member of The Greenpeace Board.
In June 2012 Oskar Metsavaht was invited by UNESCO to be the representative of Rio +20 and, through the E Institute, conceived the ‘Premio E’, an official award of Rio +20 focusing on sustainability to identify, reward and celebrate environmental initiatives developed over the past 20 years, since the ECO-92.
Alongside Arcade Fire, Chris Milk and Takeshi Murata, Oskar was invited to join the cast of "The Creators Project", a global project from Vice, which in partnership with Intel, aims to bring together the most significant artists from the fields of art, design, fashion, and music.
Metsavaht shows his collections at New York Fashion Week and São Paulo Fashion Week.
Collections
Past fashion collections by Osklen:
*Surfing the Mountains - Winter 2003
*Golden Spirit - Summer 2004
*SK8 - Winter 2004
*Vento - Summer 2005
*Austral - Winter 2005
*Rio de Janeiro - Summer 2006
*Surfing the Mountains - Himachal Expedition - Winter 2006
*Neotropical - Summer 2007
*Amazon Guardians - Winter 2007
*United Kingdom of Ipanema - Summer 2008
*Surfing the City - Winter 2008
*Monsoons - Summer 2009
*Rising - Winter 2009
*Samba - Summer 2010
*Tropic of Capricorn - Winter 2010
*Oceans - Summer 2011
*Fenix - Fall/Winter 2011
*Royal Black - Spring/Summer 2012
*A21 - Fall/Winter 2012
*Endless Summer - Spring/Summer 2013
*Into the Mountains - Fall/Winter 2013

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