Co Down Viking jewellery brand making London Fashion Week Debut

Connor Sweeney, who started his company Valhallas Silver — named after the Viking afterlife — in 2012, said it is “super exciting” to see his jewellery at the globally-renowned fashion event.

His pieces will be worn by models – most of which will be male – at the House of IKONS Fashion Week London catwalk show on Saturday, December 14, for Icelandic designer Sigrún Björk Ólafsdóttir as part of her RAW collection.

Connor said that he and Sigrún’s designs “compliments each other well” because of the inspiration they both have found in Viking and Scandinavian culture.

The Downpatrick man started his business with his partner Audhild, who is originally from Bergen in Norway, whom he met at a Viking festival.

“We were so inspired by what people would find on archaeological digs in Scandinavia, where Vikings would have been buried, that we wanted to recreate these authentic pieces of jewellery for others to enjoy,” said Conor.

“We called our business Valhallas silver because we are rebuilding the pieces that were sent to Valhalla with the owner.”

Conor and Audhild have been very involved in Northern Ireland’s booming film industry for the past ten years.

During that time, they have worked on movies such as The Northman, King Arthur, Dungeons & Dragons and Dracula Untold, as well as the TV series Vikings and Game of Thrones.

Audhild uses her skills and knowledge of Viking fashion as a costume fabricator and consultant on some of the movie sets and it was during her time working on The Northman when she got in contact with Sigrún, which led to their fashion week collaboration.

“We actually met a few years prior at a Viking festival in York and it was then we learnt about her passion for Viking culture and how she specialises in using unusual fabrics in her designs,” she said.

“When I was working on The Northman in Iceland, I was asked to create a few more pieces for one of the scenes and I needed linen – which is unusually hard to find in Iceland – so I started to contact people I knew, one of which was Sigrún.

“It was really late, maybe 10pm at night, and when I contacted her, she got back to me right away asking where I was staying in Reykjavík,” she explained.

“We discovered we were actually staying only a few minutes away from each other, so I called over and got the fabric and from there we started chatting more often.”

Following this chance encounter in Iceland, Sigrún has travelled to Ireland multiple times to visit the pair, including at a Viking festival in Slane.

“It was just in a casual conversation she was telling us about her upcoming fashion show, and she was looking for accessories and Connor just said maybe some of his jewellery might work and I guess it just went from there!” said Audhild.

Connor said it came as a “complete surprise” that she picked a number of items to appear in the show.

“I just handed her a bag of everything I had made, and she picked out what she liked,” he said.

“She particularly liked the Thor’s Hammer necklaces, some neck torques, an arm ring and a few bracelets.

“A lot of the bracelets have been made using the traditional ‘lost wax’ methods, and some have been stamped and hammered – like the neck torques – but most are silver with just a few bronze pieces all made from replicas we have found in museums from archaeological digs so there’s a bit of history to them,” he added.

“Some of the pieces are also similar to what appeared in the Northman so hopefully some people will recognise a few bits if they’ve seen it!”

While the Co Down couple said they “never expected” to be supplying a designer for a top fashion show, they are “excited” to see how the pieces work with the designs.

“Our mission is to keep the history alive so people can wear the design of jewellery that they used a thousand years ago, so I guess this is perfect for us,” said Audhild.

Sigrún – whose designs have been shown all over the world and even on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar- told the Belfast Telegraph that she feels Connor’s pieces will “compliment” her show perfectly.

“My outfits are mainly big overcoats on a mostly male show – there is just one female model – and these bold statement pieces were just what I was looking for,” she said.

“They are big and masculine with a lot of historical significance so will stand out against the plain outfits underneath the coats which I have made from a new fish leather made from fish skins from sushi restaurants – which is where the RAW came from.

“My show is about appreciating the beauty of masculinity which hasn’t been seen much in the fashion world,” she added.

“I have been very inspired by Viking and Celtic cultures and mythology in my designs, but it’s a bit of a fusion with modern clothing.”