BEATRICE MAGNUSSON TALKS SOBEA

Interviewed by Culture Coast Talks editor Daniel John. Interview transcripts might have been edited for length and clarity.

Before anything else, are you having a good summer?

Yes, my summer is really good this year. For the first time in fifteen years, I can relax in a new way since I no longer have to manage customer service for the webshop or the production of a new collection. Now it is just yoga and exercising full-time, and I feel a calm inner peace that makes me burst with joy.

For fifteen years you designed clothes under the Sobea label but a few months ago, it ended. Or is it more of a pause?

Sobea is my baby, and a new collection will surely come in a few years. So, I do see this as a pause, a much-needed one since I have worked far too much in recent years. Of course I can miss it because I’m a creative person with new ideas constantly tucked away, but now I have to slow myself down, so I don’t burn out. New pieces are already sketched, but they’ll stay in the drawer and waiting for the right moment.

What made you want to start designing clothes in the first place?

It probably runs in the family. Both my grandmother and mother sewed their own clothes. Between the ages of ten and twenty, my mother ran a fabric and home decor store where I worked part-time. I decided as early as sixth grade that I wanted to be a designer. I held a fashion show for my first collection immediately after graduating, and then opened my first sewing studio in Stockholm at age twenty-four. I absolutely loved sewing classes in elementary school, and knew this was my thing. I think my interest in fashion emerged in middle school. I was never interested in designer labels, but in how to combine different pieces to feel comfortable, beautiful, and confident in my style. I have many styles, and I think that’s how it should be, dressing in whatever feels right at the moment.

It’s possible to distinguish several different chapters in the history of your collections. From what could be said to have begun with a focus on very strong colors, to later having a greater focus on sustainability. What do you think shaped and drove this development for the brand?

I have always loved color. The combination of a drive to create and colorful fashion in 2007 made my first collections very vibrant. Over the years, as I trained to become a yoga teacher, both my inner calm and my taste became more refined, and so did the collections. Sobea has always grown hand in hand with my own development. It's so Bea.

Alongside your path as a designer, you’ve also had a path as a model. Was modeling a love you discovered through your love for fashion, or perhaps the other way around?

I am a theater-loving soul who loves being in front of the camera. My interest in fashion and my move to Stockholm from Småland in 1994 led me to start modeling. I still take modeling jobs through Mikas and really enjoy it.

What does the word “beauty” mean to you?

To dare to be true to oneself and to others. Genuine people who wish well for others and for themselves are beautiful to me. Beauty is not so much about appearance, but about actions. Of course, a person can also have a beautiful, attractive appearance. I’m not drawn to superficiality or heavy makeup. I find it beautiful when people go makeup-free, and dare to show themselves as they are.

What do you put on when you want to feel your best?

Oh, I love this question! My ripped Levi’s, a loose t-shirt, and white sneakers.

What garments can you not go without this summer?

My thin linen blazer, my green bikini, high-waisted jeans, and worn white sneakers.

What fashion season do you feel the most at home in?

Summer and autumn.

Are there any other designers you think are doing really good work right now?

Brahmaki, absolutely lovely pieces.

Do you have a happy place that allows you to forget everything else for a while?

On the yoga mat! And on “my” beach in Gotland.

We will mainly find you on the yoga mat going forward?

Yes, something like that. In various places, online, TV, retreats, corporate yoga, on my new YouTube channel, and so on.

When did you first start practicing yoga?

I tried yoga for the first time seventeen years ago and trained as a yoga teacher about nine years ago.

This is a time when many people may not want or be able to get outside as much as before. Many may also not have nature close by. What would you recommend for exercising for those people?

I recommend either home workouts or outdoor exercise. You don’t need nature, just a small patch of grass or a backyard is enough. Check YouTube or try free yoga with me online. I personally train only outdoors during the summer, together with my groups. I’m also a certified group training instructor in cross-training, and my new concept combines group training with both physical exercise and yoga in the same session. I run such classes in Bromma, among other places. They’re really appreciated, since you get “two birds with one stone.”

Is taking time to relax essential?

Absolutely, it’s crucial if you want to keep up with today’s pace and constant stimuli. Being able to relax and quiet the chatter in your head is so important and so wonderful. The body tells you how it feels, listen carefully so you don’t miss it. The best is to stay one step ahead and schedule “doing nothing, yoga, breathing breaks or power-naps” a few times a week so you never end up running on empty.

Has yoga helped you with that?

Yes, definitely! Thanks to yoga, I practice rest and recovery in different ways every day, usually through breathing exercises.

Would you say yoga has made you more creative. Does it give your mind space to flow more freely?

I’ve always been very creative. Yoga, however, has given me better self-esteem.

Whether or not you return to designing, what might a next collection look like. Are there any current fashion trends you’d like to explore?

What I like now is that pieces are more generous in cut and no longer tight-fitting fashion. I don’t make fashion per se, but functional pieces designed to feel magically comfortable, look great and have excellent quality. I think about sustainability, and I have for a long time. So it feels fantastic that the word “sustainability” has finally become trendy.