Ella Soccorsi on longevity and meaningful design

It's not the nature of the topic that is the point – whether science, the natural world, or something as literal as material – but the investigation and process, and design becomes a way of unfolding the intricate layers of understanding and expression within it.

‘I know it sounds very grand, but I think it comes down to a curiosity about people and what’s going on in the world,’ says Ella Soccorsi. ‘That’s why I often turn to art because it gives you a feeling of how artists, who I think of as more sensitive to the world around them, perceive what’s happening, whether it’s the climate crisis or political situations, and how that affects our everyday lives.’

Brought up in Zambia by a Swedish mother and an Italian father, Ella moved to Stockholm to go to school in the early 90s. She later decided to depart from the planned career path in engineering to cultivate an interest in art and design, falling in love with scenography and costume design during an internship at the Stockholm Opera House and then co-founding the independent fashion label Nakkna before starting a long relationship with the H&M brand.

‘If you put in the attention and passion and all that comes with being inspired in the design process, and you know the lives of the people you’re designing for, it somehow shines through in the product.

You can feel the consideration and choices behind it, which gives it purpose and meaning, and in the end, beauty. Because beauty comes from connection. If I look at what makes my life more beautiful, it’s certainly not always the aesthetic of things but because they give me comfort and make sense in my day-to-day routines.

Most of us have a more relaxed and functional approach to how we create our homes than to our wardrobes and how we dress.

What becomes your house is a natural process, with a mix of inherited objects that are not really your style and stuff you actually need because you have children and small things they bring home from school, or that you bring home from the beach.

I think it would be quite interesting if the same kind of meaning and connection would play a bigger role in how we buy and relate to clothing.’