In the heart of Copenhagen, a unique fashion brand is redefining the relationship between nature and design. Solitude Studios, originally founded by Jonas Sayed Gammal Bruun and Emil Wæde, is now run by Bruun and Sophia Martinussen. Solitude Studios is not just a brand but a creative experiment that intertwines the organic world with high fashion. The ethos of the brand transcends mere fashion; it’s about capturing the essence of time and weaving it into a narrative. Just as nature tells its story, so do humans, and Solitude Studios encapsulates this in their creations.
FORM: Who are you and where are you from? What is your background and upbringing? How did it impact who you are and what you do today?
SOLITUDE STUDIOS: My name is Sophia, and I’m 23 years old. I grew up just north of Copenhagen, Denmark. For the past four and a half years, I’ve been working at Solitude. My work here started as a collaboration, which eventually led to us leading the brand together.
I’m Jonas. I’m 28 years old, and I also grew up north of Copenhagen. We grew up fairly close to each other since Denmark is quite a small place.
Growing up just 20 kilometers apart, their paths were destined to intertwine.
JONAS: Although we are from approximately the same area, we grew up in very different environments. I grew up in a concrete block, and Sophia lived the suburban life more - However, we both grew up close to a lot of nature.
SOPHIA: Jonas was more by the ocean, while I had a lot of forests and bogs surrounding me. I think being around nature shaped both of us quite a bit.
Sophia and Jonas both went to production school in Copenhagen, Jonas in 2016 and Sophia in 2019. Production schools are independent institutions, the goal is to help participants grow personally and improve their chances in school and the job market. This program aims to give young people the qualifications they need to finish high school and get a professional qualification.
JONAS: My friend (Emil) and I met at the production school where we made garments. We were fortunate to have an exceptional teacher, one of the greatest pattern cutters in Denmark. He devoted his life to teaching, which was amazing. My friend and I learned a lot from him, but after the one-year program, we went our separate ways. I applied to design school and spent two years there, but I dreaded it. I hung in there for a while, but eventually, I had enough. My friend and I had always talked about starting something together. The day before a re-exam, I called him and said I was ready to drop out and start our venture. He agreed, so I informed my teacher that I wouldn’t be attending the exam and dropped out. I packed my bags and went home, and that’s when we founded Solitude.
FORM: Has the concept of the brand remained the same since the beginning, or has it evolved over the years? Specifically, after your collaboration with Emil ended and the new one with Sophia began, did that change things?
JONAS: Figuring out the direction of the brand is definitely an ongoing process, as it should be. It has changed, of course, partly because we’re not the original team, but I don’t think that’s the main reason.
SOPHIA: Solitude existed for about half a year before I joined. I dropped out of high school and started at a production school. Then Solitude Studios reached out to me and asked if I wanted to collaborate. We started working together more and more, and the brand evolved through that work. it will always be an ongoing process.
JONAS: It would have changed regardless. The main thing that brought us together from the start was our love of questioning the world and the status quo, and our interest in philosophy. Most of our collections have stemmed from conversations. We’ve often found ourselves at a bar or somewhere, talking about various topics, and we get attached to them, diving deeper and immersing ourselves in these subjects together. I remember our first runway show. The collection was inspired by a photo of a church that looked like a rocketship. We started talking about what it would be like if we had to migrate to a new planet, and of course, there would be this religious rocketship—a church with its own rocketship
SOPHIA: Emerging from our obsessions, which frequently change, there are certain topics that consistently captivate us. When discussing the complexities of what humans choose to carry forward as a society, many often question the role of deeply ingrained elements like religion and tradition. This is a key consideration for us.
SOPHIA: Are we going to bring religion? Are we going to bring tradition? It’s not about what we ourselves want to bring; it’s more about questioning what humanity would bring. It’s not about saying we want to bring religion, the church, or these traditions with us. It’s about pondering what we, as a species, would do. A lot of our inspiration comes from trying not to be too judgmental. It’s easy to look at the world and feel hopeless about the state of things, but we don't really want to bring more into the world that makes people see hopelessness. I’d much rather ask the questions, and from there, we aim to tell a story.
JONAS: A lot of our inspiration comes from exploring and not judging. We try to approach topics with a broader perspective, and communicate through our work that perception plays a big part as well. Our goal is to become better at our craft and communicating our reflections.
FORM: What’s the story behind the brand name “Solitude Studios”?
JONAS: Actually, it’s a funny story. It comes from Tarkovskij, the film director. In an old interview, he was asked what advice he would give to the youth, and his reply was, “Learn to love solitude.” This resonated deeply with us, and that’s how we came up with our name. Both my co-founder and I had very turbulent youths. We both needed solitude—a place to immerse ourselves in our craft, to search for balance and well-being, and to build a space where we could communicate our thoughts.
Andrei Tarkofsky 'Mirror' (1975)
Andrei Tarkofsky 'Solaris' (1972)
Andrei Tarkofsky 'Stalker' (1979)
SOPHIA: We also talked a lot about how, in Danish, we don’t have a word for solitude; we only have a word for loneliness, which is very different. Exploring the meaning of solitude, we realized it’s not negative. In fact, it has a very positive connotation. Solitude is peaceful and immersive, and we believe we need more of that.
The brand’s ethos revolves around balance and the interplay between human creativity and nature’s unpredictability. Jonas and Sophia’s flexible approach to design reflects their belief in giving to nature and trusting in what it returns. This karmic relationship with the environment is evident in their work, where each piece is a testament to reflections about the harmony and disharmony between human ingenuity and natural processes.
FORM: I think many of his movies, especially “Stalker,” focus on the process of things and on religion. This leads me to my next question about your materials and thoughts on sustainability. Your garments are clearly inspired by nature. How does that influence your work? Additionally, how do you see your work interacting with the wearer and evolving over its life cycle as part of your production process and the consumption of your ideas?
SOLITUDE STUDIOS: Definitely. We design from a perspective that always considers the aging of the clothing and we experiment a lot with that. We love to create pieces that develop with the wearer. For example, we’ve screen-printed texts and poetry on garments, then covered them with cheesecloth that slowly breaks down to reveal the text and stories. We try to approach this in as many ways as possible because longevity is a recurring theme. It’s something you have to consider if you want to be responsible about creating something. We’re also fascinated by the archival nature of clothing—how it becomes a visual record of memories, experiences, and decay. We work a lot with oilskin, which ages and creases quickly, providing a different kind of interaction compared to fabrics that reveal layers over time. Clothing only makes sense to us when it’s worn by someone. Creating clothing with a story is important, but the most significant story is the one that forms when it’s used.
JONAS: We aim to create pieces that support and enhance the story that will unfold with use. This personal connection is what drew us to garments instead of other forms of art. A garment becomes unique as the wearer develops it, building upon the initial story. Everyone has a favorite piece of clothing, like a pair of socks or underwear they wear to important events. We aim to embed our beliefs and hopes into our garments, making them unique.
In their creative process, they prioritize the story behind each piece, ensuring that every design element, from pocket sizes to overall aesthetics, serves the narrative and character they envision.
“When we create a collection, each look builds a character. We think about what they carry with them and consider practical details like pocket sizes. Sometimes we’ve made tiny pockets for gems or other small items. This approach influences many of the details and designs. The design springs from this concept, not just from what we find cool or aesthetically pleasing. We often compromise on aesthetics to support the story, which is far more important. The story always comes first, even if it means including a small or large pocket that might look odd. If the character needs a big pocket, then that’s what they’ll have”.
FORM: Considering your own beliefs, you’ve spoken a lot about how you see your beliefs influencing others and how they create their own stories. From your perspective, do you think everything is inspired by nature? I know part of this inspiration likely comes from Tarkovsky, as you mentioned, and from your childhood experiences with nature. Why do you think nature, in particular, is the strongest connection for you, as opposed to other influences from your childhood? Was there a specific moment in your childhood that made you connect with nature, beyond just living around it?
JONAS: That’s very interesting. Personally, my inspiration with nature has always been about noticing how we interact with it. For example, having plants in your home. I had a bunch of plants in my room and started wondering how strange it is to domesticate nature, keeping it in my room and watering it when it suits me. It becomes quite odd when you start to think about domesticating nature in this way.
SOPHIA: It’s like removing nature from its natural environment. Plucking a flower and bringing it inside, closer to us, ironically brings us closer to nature by killing the flower.
JONAS: I started thinking a lot about various things, from large-scale concepts down to small-scale ones, like houseplants. This led me to wonder, what even is nature? I began reading a lot of Marx, who, along with Engels, had some interesting takes on nature that aren’t as widely known. Engels, in particular, said things that really put nature into perspective for me. It made me question, is everything nature?
SOPHIA: Consider industrialization and resource use, and how we transform nature into things we suddenly don’t recognize as nature. Yet, they still are nature.
JONAS: I think your (SOPHIA) approach to these themes is a lot more dreamy and wonderous. I’m always very rooted in reality and critical thinking, whereas I think Sophia is definitely better at flipping the mundane elements into something dreamy, and then embracing it.
SOPHIA: I think I’ve always lived a lot inside my head. Being in nature really sparks a lot of stories for me. It’s hard to walk by a tree, see a hole in it, and not imagine what lives there or how I would decorate it if I lived there. That’s just what I’ve always done, especially in the area where I grew up. I see things around me, shape them in my head, and create stories from that. I resonate with a mix of Tarkovsky and Miyazaki, like Studio Ghibli movies. The way Miyazaki sees things, like dust in the air becoming alive, is very much what happens in my head a lot of the time.
Hayao Miyazaki 'Arrietty' (2010)
JONAS: I think the contrast is what we bonded over a lot. I find it fascinating how Sophia builds stories, like wondering what lives inside a hole. My perspective is different; I think about what we did to create that, or which building project led to this forest. Is this even wild nature? I always start thinking about something else entirely. We use that contrast a lot when we build collections and in all our work. The mix of reality and dreaminess is what makes it interesting.
SOPHIA: Hopeful and melancholic, so it’s not all dystopian or dark. It’s also very dreamy and hopeful.
In the tapestry of Copenhagen's creative landscape, Solitude Studios stands out as a brand that is as much about philosophy as it is about fashion. Through their deeply introspective approach, Jonas Bruun and Sophia Martinussen have woven a narrative that challenges the conventional boundaries between nature, design, and human experience. Their creations are not just garments but living stories that evolve with the wearer, reflecting a harmonious blend of reality and dream, practicality and imagination. Solitude Studios reminds us that fashion can be more than an aesthetic—it can be a thoughtful exploration of our relationship with the world around us, one that values both the natural and the human-made in equal measure.
