Sola Karadottir

"People think of fashion as a shallow form of art, but it has had such importance to me from such a young age."

[Ed. Note: On the occassion of Sola Karadottir's wedding to Dhani Harrison, son of George Harrison, we spoke to her about her roots in fashion, her style influences, and what's next.]

Photo by Stevie Dance

"I started modeling at age twelve and started travelling at age thirteen or fourteen. I was discovered in a store in Iceland called 17, which was the ‘in’ store when I was twelve. One year later I was in the Elite Model Look competition and I won second place. I essentially grew up in the fashion industry. If you start something that young, it becomes a very important part of your life. People think of fashion as a shallow form of art, but it has had such importance to me from such a young age that I’ve never dismissed it as stupid. I always allowed for it to have importance in my life. ... The most important thing to me in fashion is to look comfortable. I don’t know what the direct translation in English would be, but there’s a word in Icelandic, which means to look natural, comfortable, and easy. That's what I think about a lot.

My most loved item is a snakeskin, pink Chanel bag. I love Chanel bags and I have many. I was deciding between this particular bag and something else much safer in the store. It was priced 75% less than it should have been–even the sales clerk was amazed at how low the price was. A part of me was thinking that the bag was so ‘old lady,’ but then I thought it would only look like an old lady bag on an old lady. My parents also gave me a Chanel bag for my college graduation with a gold chain. I’ve given it to my sister now because I wanted her to have one, but I still kind of miss it.

Photo by Stevie Dance

Because I come from Iceland where the temperature is always the same, I’ve never thought of shopping for seasons. It’s quite boring, actually, but fashion in Iceland is incredible. It’s such a small place, and so people want to be singular and unique and they do that through clothing. There’s a need for Icelandic people to be really original. …

Iceland is so small and isolated, it’s really a mystery why people stay there. It’s very much a homogenous population because the Vikings came to Iceland in the 1100s, and since then there have not been many other immigrants. Growing up I read the Viking sagas in Icelandic. As much as I love Iceland, I don’t know if I could necessarily move back there to live.

There are some really exciting projects on the way for me. After I get back from my honeymoon I plan on focusing myself on a career in fashion, and there are some very interesting opportunities that are starting to take shape right now." -- Sola Karadottir to Shop Ghost

Sola Karadottir photographed at Friar Park by Stevie Dance.

Photo by Stevie Dance

Sola's Tips

Style Icon

"Recently I love Bridget Bardot and Rooney Mara. I love the Givenchy dress Rooney wore to the Oscars. I also like Cate Blanchett because I think she always looks incredible, even though I don’t think I would dress that way."
Mom

"My mother is just a beautiful very elegant woman that I admire, and I know I’ve taken lots from her. My mother is always very elegant, but she’s never been obsessed with fashion. From very early on she’s known that nobody tells me what to wear… That’s for sure."
Sense of Style

"My family always say that out of all people in the world I’m impossible to buy anything for. I know exactly what I like and what I don’t like. I was so confused about a Versace dress I just bought, but then I figured if I bought it I must like it. I only buy things if I absolutely know that I love them."