Eliminating waste and practicing smarter ways of working is central to making strides towards a more sustainable fashion industry – and MatchesFashion.com want to celebrate the agenda-setting brands doing just that.

The Innovator Series returns in its third season as an incubator and supporter of sustainably-minded talent to introduce us to a roster of global trailblazers, including ready-to-wear designers Noki and Germanier, footwear brand Peterson Stoop and accessory brand Ingy Stockholm; the latter, we can’t get enough of for its sculptural, XXL wearable artefacts, read: earrings.

Giving ‘#FaceFurniture’ a whole other meaning – for the materials used could too be purposed for actual furniture – the Stockholm-based brand, dreamt up by husband and wife photography duo Ingela Klemetz Farago and Peter Farago, fashion their mismatched painting earrings from old fallen tree debris, working with their abstracted form and shapes crafted perfectly by Mother Nature.

To discover the ‘eureka’ moment behind this unique concept, we spoke to one half of the duo, Ingela, to  learn the story...



Your backgrounds are rooted in fashion photography – how did it feel making the transition across to design?
My husband and I co-exist in everything we do: we find inspiration through photography, nature, music, art and film. In these different worlds we find the fuel to our work and life, everything needs to have a meaning and a soul.

The mind and the eyes have to be open and travel. Fashion to us is to step into a world full of imagination, dreams, excitement and luxury. It can be an escapism, but also it is a way to express who you are. Fashion is an art form that is like any other art, expressed through colours, shapes and form.

Was there a ‘eureka’ moment one day to run with the idea of fashioning jewellery from old wood?
I spend a lot of my spare time in nature – it’s so fascinating to see how weather and wind have created amazing shapes and forms. Nothing can be more captivating and inspirational than the creations of the nature itself… Whether it’s a flower, a butterfly, or the mountains.

You could call it a ‘eureka’ moment – when walking through Djurgården in Stockholm a couple of years ago, I found this stunning piece of drift wood which I brought home and painted gold. There I saw the potential of an abstract earring and INGY STOCKHOLM was born!

We use all different kinds of Swedish wood for the earrings; the woods all have their own essence and language, and all of them are handpicked and carefully selected by me. We use different colours on the  earrings, and they all represent the elements.

I wanted to create earrings that empowered me as a woman; an object that made a statement.



Why does sustainability matter to you? And what do you think the mainstream fashion and jewellery industries need to do differently? 
I love nature and what it gives back; of course I want it to last and to nurture it. I think it's important that we wake up and start to care about our world and how to treat it. I think the fashion world needs to think over their big collections and start to think in smaller scales. 

What does working "with a minimalistic philosophy to achieve a maximalist appearance" translate to as a physical piece of jewellery?
INGY STOCKHOLM is an extension of me and my creativity. My objects stand out from the mass production that is all around us today… I believe my creations are something that you want to wear because they’re delicate and completely unique.

I think that I have struck a good nerve within the fashion industry through creating something beautiful that has actually appeared from something that has passed away – through bringing it back to life that is what I see as a 'maximalist' meaning. I have always been inspired by Louise Nevelson and Marcel Duchamp, how they find debris that people have deserted and they give it a new life and context.

Click here to discover The Innovators Series.