The slightly cryptic and vigorously appealing name Thornhammar, reveals the luxury organic sneaker brand, founded by the two friends, Jesse Davison and Hannes Steen Thörnhammar, with a distinctly a “Swenglish” feel to it. Jesse is American, Hannes is Swedish and their brand is the result of a combination between their different design approaches as well as their personal interests. Jesse has a background at Hermès and a freelancing career in material-sourcing for a well established brand. Hannes, on the other hand, is more interested in PR and marketing, which took him to companies such as Design House Stockholm and Stinton Advertising in New York, before founding Thornhammar.
The two friends and founders first met when studying at Parsons School of Design in New York, several years ago. Thornhammar, the brand, was born from a reaction to the market of bad quality shoes, and from an ambition to create something they – and their friends – would love to wear. The result are sneakers that are made of organic leather produced in a small Swedish city. Even though the shoes are put together in Thailand, which might easily be criticized for its inherent contradiction to what appears to be a dedication to local production, Jesse and Hannes are part of the production process from start to finish.
The two founders describe the brand as “Swedish maximalist”, which is an updated version of the classic Scandinavian minimalism, with the name of the brand itself, chosen with the purpose of sounding Swedish, recalling its design background, yet aiming to make it more international. Their aim is not to create another sneaker, but to take subcultural streetwear, where sneakers used to belong to, to another level by adding luxurious, global, local and organic aspects. The products are, thus, not the only interesting aspect of the brand; they are the result of a design process in which questions about national style, subcultural attributes and organic values as luxury high fashion, are drawn to light. In that sense the sneakers are far more than other luxury shoes, they are capturing the time we are living in and the many different sources of inspiration that are typical of the postmodern society. They are also redefining old truths, by awakening questions like, what Swedish or Scandinavian style can really be defined as, or if it can even exist as such? “Swedish maximalism” sounds like a welcoming term: a term which could perhaps include a combination of Swedish and American design perspectives, or even something completely different.
