Long regarded as the quintessential house of creatives in Stockholm, Beckmans College of Design has a burgeoning reputation for educating some of the most respected and cherished modern designers, before shipping them off out into the world.

Since 1939 the school, founded by Anders Beckman and Göta Trägårdh, has fostered new talent with their innovative ideas, giving the tools needed to create the masterpieces of the future. The school started as a creative alternative to the state-owned College of Arts, with training administered by local esteemed artists and their recruits. Today it is a Design School conglomerate, and the principal owners are drawn from some of the most innovative Swedish companies – H&M, IKEA and Swedish Pewter are just some of the names you can add to their board.

Beckmans is located at Nybrogatan in the center of Stockholm, and serves as an iconic landmark in the cityscape. The amenities are impressive – high-tech computer rooms, sewing, audio studios, carpentry studios, the obvious art classrooms, photo studios, screen printing rooms, galleries, and other rooms full of tools and gadgets. The campus has a sleek, secluded aura to it and the people milling around and interacting appear as if they could be anywhere. Surrounded by books and design-savvy chairs, beautiful prints and sculptures, it’s hard not to get lost in the vibrations. The Beckmans bubble could probably survive on the moon.

Headed by Cilla Robach since 2013, their programs in fashion, design and visual communication have caused tsunamis in the worldwide fashion pool.  Robach has stated that her goal was to challenge students in various ways  and nurture them into strong creative professionals who can put out work that appeals to their individual interests.

There is a long list of Beckman’s alumni that have done just that, putting their unique spin on today’s visual library and creating a place for themselves in the world of fashion and design. Ahead of this year’s graduation show at Kulturhuset, we look back on the school with reminiscences and notes from fashion dignitaries and current students.

Amanda Blom

Amanda Blom is in her third year at Beckmans and is already becoming a cult favourite on the internet. Her designs have the edge and vision of a house that has had decades to grow, and her use of fabrics and unique silhouettes are sexy and unrefined and seamless in a way that is hard to describe. She’s not even out of school yet but she has us all eagerly awaiting when Amanda Blom will be hitting the streets.

How is Beckmans helping shaping your creative vision?

Beckmans’ helps me to bring out my ideas and teaches me how to work in order to be able to realize them within the limited resources available. I’ve taught myself to come up with creative ideas for the solutions that I choose to work on.

How would you describe the Beckmans community?

A bit competitive but yet a very nice social cohesion.

What have you learnt most about yourself while studying?

I’ve learnt a lot of my own limits and how to push myself over boundaries in order to achieve what at first seem like unreachable goals. I’ve also learnt when to stop trying too much and when trying to be reach some goals is not worth the effort

What are the easiest and hardest things about being a student at such a prestigious college?

Studying at such a prestigious college helps me when I contact new people both in my work and when creating my future network in the industry. The school publishes and promotes your work very well, which is a great advantage, but this also puts a lot of pressure on you as a student to deliver interesting and creative designs.

What were your thoughts when you first got accepted?

Of course I was very happy. I actually didn’t expect to get accepted at my young age and had calculated with having to try at least a couple of times before getting accepted, so I was almost over-excited when I did.

What is the program is teaching you now that you find most valuable?

Being such intensive years I have a hard time putting my finger on that right now, but I have evolved a lot during my years at Beckmans. When saying this I don’t just think of evolvement from a design and process perspective, as I’ve learnt a lot of the industry, and from the many contacts we’ve had between the school and the industry.

Apart from this we as students also work so close together that it’s inevitable that we all share a lot, both in our work and thoughts. It’s a very intense and creative environment where you’re trained to make decisions fast.

Do you think studying fashion is beneficial to designers?

Oh yes, definitely. Studying design is about developing ideas and creating clarity in your work and that is really something that we’re being trained in at Beckmans. Understanding the importance of clarity is something you really have to keep on practicing to be good at, and having the opportunity to do this at this school is very useful.

In your mind, what sets you apart?

My way of developing ideas. I work a lot with logically evolving abstract ideas from some concrete base. I usually trigger my ideas from some not-too-complicated base, usually some of my basic interests like historical events or architecture, and this is then tossed back and forth in my head, turned inside out several times, sometimes with a lot of frustration, until it comes out as something that can be used in my work.

Did you study anything else?

Yes, during senior high school I studied clothing and fashion, learnt basic sewing and how to create pattern designs. I also had a year at an art school and a year with a preparatory design course at Steneby, preparing for my application for attending Beckmans. All my choices since the age of 15 have been to be able to do what I’m doing right now.

How would you describe Beckmans?

Three very intense years with a lot of work. A school where the students develop a very strong social cohesion and for better and worse we literally live together almost 24/7. Beckmans is a school that is very keen on teaching us to be able to cope in the industry once we’ve graduated. It’s been three tough years and we’re being prepared for a world outside Beckmans that is even tougher.

Anna Spånberg

Anna Spånberg, graduated from Beckmans last year and has created a swirling wonderland of interesting textiles and patterns. Her unique style is one of the most decadent on the scene right now.

How is Beckmans helping shaping your creative vision?

The program provided me with professional skill and the wide network required for a career in fashion. Right now I’m working as a designer for the fashion brand Jofama with two other girls, and today I am on my way to Riga for competition with my graduate collection *Into The Wilderness*.

How would you describe the Beckmans community?

It helped me to find my identity and role, both privately and as a designer. I stopped being afraid.

I usually express my visions in shape, I like to be working experimentally and with variation.

What have you learnt most about yourself while studying?

I had a work waiting for me when I finished school. I have heard that the most of the alumni have great work.

What are the easiest and hardest things about being a student at such a prestigious college?

The presentation and fashion show. I loved to hear what my classmates had provided, we helped and supported each other.

What has the program taught you that helped you excel in the industry?

Work hard, and don’t be afraid, Believe in your ideas but be self-critical. We learned how to make good presentation and how to work with different materials, textile prints and drapes.

Do you think studying fashion is beneficial to designers?

I think studying fashion is beneficial to designers to understand what fashion really is. I believe that if you haven’t been taught how to come up with new ideas from your own imagination, people take the easy way out and copy what they have seen. Many interesting and successful fashion designers have studied at Beckmans –  Ann-Sofie Back, Anna Holtblad, Sandra Backlund, Margareta van den Bosch, Helena Hörstedt and Pär Enskede.

What in your mind set you apart?

The fashion world can sometimes be stressful and aside from my interest in fashion I also like hunting and fishing. I always viewed nature as an inexhaustible source of inspiration to be constantly changed. I extract colours, the shell, silhouettes from the forest and mountains. I take the best part from both worlds and put it together in my mind together.

How would you describe Beckmans?

Beckmans is really tough and not a school for everyone, but it’s one of the best design schools. Both students and the tutors have a strong will. At Beckmans you have many projects and collaborations with the fashion industry. Topical, prominent and guest teachers coach you. And as a student you are allowed to show at the Stockholm Fashion Week.

Are you a proud alumni?

Yes, I’m very proud of being an alumni. I believe that we were a special class. We were so different and we all had our own design ethic. But we all put it together and our differences made us stronger. We always did our best and everyone was very ambitious.

What did Beckmans encourage you to as an artist more than anything else?

They taught me to accept criticism and to make something good out of it. To improve, you also need to hear what you can take a little further.

Ann-Sofie Back

You can’t walk down a Stockholm street without seeing BACK enameled on some cool jacket or beanie or bag. The bold and unapologetic style of Ann-Sofie Back has given a certain rebel attitude to the streets that shout a bit louder than, say, a Chanel bag. Her sleek, gaudy, tripped-out designs are influencing design patterns everywhere, as well everyday fashion.

What inspired you to go into fashion?

The total lack of style of my parents and interest in aesthetics.

How did Beckman shape, encourage or challenge your creative vision?

It didn’t, or only in the way that I realised that I had to go and do a masters in London after.

What was it like to go out into the world, and fashion industry as a recent Beckmans graduate?

Coming to St Martin’s I realised no one ever told us to do research at Beckmans, you just designed from an empty head, which you can’t do, so you end up copying. Or like a lot of my classmates, you end up doing crafts.

What was the community like when you were going to school there?

The fashion students looked like shit and were more interested in crafts or drawing. They had no clue about fashion. Neither did the tutors.

What were your favourite memories while studying?

My best friend Sofia in my class, who was the only one actually interested in fashion besides me.

What did the program teach you that helped you excel in the industry?

It made me good at drawing, we had drawing all the time. I guess that has helped somewhat. I also liked the project when we collaborated with the graphic design students. Packaging is unfortunately everything and I still suck at it.

Do you think studying fashion is beneficial to designers?

Yes, I see a huge difference in the working methods at for instance Cheap Monday, where we have a few self-taught designers.

What in your mind sets you apart?

My need for shooting myself in the foot all the time.

Did you ever want to study anything else?

I applied to a photo school at the same time as applying to Beckmans, but I choose Beckmans in the end.

How would you describe Beckmans?

A place to get contacts?

What one motto that encompasses your Beckman’s studies?

That everything is relative or a question of taste, which is bullshit.