Day Et x Teklan
To know Day Et is to know the Gweneth Bag. Ten years ago, the clean lines of the versatile piece were introduced to the world, and the combination of practicality and aesthetic design was an instant hit.
Lovingly named Gweneth after the Welsh word for “happiness”, the iconic shoulder bag captures the very essence of the philosophy that a bag should be worn, used and lived in. A decade later, the iconic bag is joined by several collections born of the same concept and living on as wardrobe staples around the world.
On this anniversary, we celebrate the journey by inviting talented interior decorator Tekla Evalina Severin and her brand Teklan, to reimagine the bag we know so well. Creating rich palettes of vibrant settings and tone-on-tone designs, working with Teklan was to work with someone who truly sees the world in the full spectrum of colour.
“Everything in life brings us where we are today, right?” Teklan answers, when asked about her relationship to colour: “Maybe it started in my early childhood, with a powder pink wall-to-wall rug. Or maybe it started when my eyesight swiftly deteriorated at age 9, to the point where I thought I might lose it, making me obsessed with everything visually appealing because it felt so precious”.
— I like to work where the intersection happens, the place between playfulness and strict geometry. It’s the ‘in-between’ I am trying to achieve.
Teklan’s Instagram profile is one of those rare, flawlessly curated feeds that draws you into a dazzling universe of perfection - each post as impeccably polished as the next. In a time of digital altering and AI, Teklan remains the OG of playing with colour and design in the real world. Engaging with space, shadows and geometry to achieve stylised settings, where she often plays the main character, bringing the concepts to life with harmonising styled outfits.
Teklan’s pull towards colour is almost magnetic. After graduating from the Interior Architecture and Furniture Design at Konstfack University of Arts and Crafts in Stockholm, Teklan found herself working in an architecture studio. “But something was missing. The conformity was boring me, that concept of Scandinavian grace with all the whites, beiges and greiges, it bothered me”.
Eventually, the abandoned colours of the material library called to her, providing a creative space. “I started creating visual notes for myself: testing different combinations, materials, and colours, exploring other aesthetics and capturing it with a very early smartphone.”
Those visual notes would lead to project after project, working on set and interior design
projects with exclusive brands around the world, all the while honing the unique and
impeccably executed sense of style we know today:
“I thought it was liberating, not having to care about function or construction in the way you do when designing it, but just focus on the strong visual elements: outtakes, angles, shadowplay, colours and more.”
When approached to work with the Gweneth bag, the “specific, recognisable and classic design with its geometric elements” motivated Teklan, who saw it as a blank canvas with endless possibilities.
Interpreting the well-known design elements, she worked in reverse to the usual approach, tossing the big picture to focus on details like stitching and webbing. Finding new colour combinations is always a priority, and Teklan wanted the collection to have a palette that works within balanced contrast. “I like to work where the intersection happens, the place between playfulness and strict geometry. It’s the ‘in-between’ I am trying to achieve”.
