Meet designer Ingela Lundin
Ingela Lundin has been working within the leather industry for most of her professional life. A designer at Jofama, a seamstress and also lecturer at the college for leathercraft in Malung, she is regarded, quite rightly, as an expert in her field and undoubtedly the reason why Jofama jackets fit so well.
Born and raised in Malung, Ingela grew up watching and learning how to sew with her grandmother. Her own mother made garments from fur (known as a furrier) and her father a leather cutter. Ingela’s first paid job was surprisingly at the age of 11 sewing belt loops made from leather for the princely sum of 10 Swedish pennies per loop!
Having worked for many years in the restaurant industry, Ingela had what could be described as a ‘Eureka' moment when she realized that she simply needed to do something more creative. This naturally re-introduced her to working with leather and led to starting her own leather and fur atelier with her mother, which ran throughout the 1980s, she then went on to attend the leather college in Malung where she now teaches.
"The focus is on the leather itself and the fit"
"The focus is on the leather itself and the fit"
Running her own atelier, creating custom made leather garments on request and working in many of Malung’s specialist leather shops, it was 14 years ago that Ingela joined the Jofama business and one of the last surviving institutions of Malung's leather heritage.
“I suppose as with many people born and raised in Malung, the industry is close to their hearts,” says Ingela. "For me, I consider the Jofama business to be part of my roots, I live virtually next-door to where founder Niss Oskar Jonsson lived and where many of my family have worked over the years."
That heritage and passion have been captured in her own work to not only embrace the classic pieces at Jofama but to achieve freshness in the product to further the brand's future.
"We take classic shapes such as the Biker Jacket and give it a face-lift. We are presenting it now with less bling and detailing, effectively stripping it back to where the focus is on the leather itself and the fit,” she says.”It’s great that leather is now more common in a variety of garments, which includes the loose fitted shirt, which can be styled in so many ways. It’s not just about jackets anymore and that perhaps ‘seedy' stereotype has disappeared.
“I find that working with leather is so unique, no hide is like any other,” she says. “The surface, finish, and thickness is always different, you have to adjust how to make the garment depending on this element. I also love the scent and smell of leather and the way it feels and sounds when working with it - that soft crackling sound it makes when you move the material around in your hands."
As expected with someone with the industry insight of Ingela, she has a few tips of what not to do with ones beloved jacket, “Don’t let it hang for too long and wear and use it as often as possible,” she says. “If the lining gets worn out, simply replace it, which is easy to do. The jacket should be for life.
Ingela concludes, “Everyone should have a leather jacket as a staple piece of their wardrobe and arguably now more products that move away from just a jacket, but I would say the most timeless piece has to be the Biker jacket, without a doubt, it is the one design that has changed the least throughout the years."