Why VITVEIS · · ·

Hvitveis is the Norwegian name for the windflower - the first thing to bloom after a Nordic winter. Small, white, quietly stubborn. It comes up through frozen ground before the snow has finished melting, needing nothing but its own nature and a little light.

One of my first memories is running barefoot through the snow on my birthday to pick them. It isn't a grand flower. A few white petals, no decoration, nothing performing. And it is the strongest thing in the forest in March.

That's why I chose the name. The windflower holds both things at once - softness and force, fragility and the will to push through frozen earth and rise again. I've never believed a woman has to choose between those either.

For twenty years I designed wedding dresses under the name SADONI. I built it from nothing and I loved it. But, SADONI was never my name. This one is closer to my Norwegian heritage, and to my heart.

VITVEIS is the flower from my childhood, in my own language, from Norway - the country I come from. Coming back to bridal with a new name has felt less like starting a business than like finding my way back to myself.

Who I make it for

The bride I design for isn't looking for a dress that performs. She's looking for something simple enough that she stays recognizable in it - where people see her first and the dress second. A little wild, a little her own. SHE, is enough..

That's why the collection is tops and skirts rather than finished gowns. You put your own look together, in whatever combination is actually you.

I don't think your wedding is the day to dress as someone else.

One more thing

There's another part of this coming - VITVEIS Botanicals: herbal teas and 100% natural body care made from Nordic plants, by the same hands. Because I wanted to make things for the days before and after, too.

- Trude