The strong cultural and kinship ties between Iceland and New Iceland were celebrated during the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba’s (IFM) Fashion Show on Aug. 2 at the Gimli Theatre.
The fashion show celebrated 150 years of New Iceland and welcomed special guests from Iceland including president Halla Tómasdóttir and her husband Björn Skúlason. It also featured Guðrún Hildur Rósenkjær and Ásmundur Kristjánsson, whose Iceland-based company, Ánnríki, specializes in making folk costumes and jewellery, as well as New Iceland women and children modelling their own traditional Icelandic dress.
The theme of the IFM’s 136th festival was “Woven Together” to reflect the deep and enduring ties between New Iceland and Iceland.
New Iceland runs along the western shore of Lake Winnipeg, stretching from Winnipeg Beach to Hecla. In the 19th century, the Canadian government created the reserve for Icelandic immigrants. The first Icelanders to the area arrived on Willow Island, south of Gimli, on Oct. 21, 1875, and Indigenous people helped them survive the winter.
Iceland’s president Halla Tómasdóttir spoke about the lasting connection between Iceland and Canada and Iceland and New Iceland in a heartfelt address during the fashion show, which attracted hundreds of people to Gimli’s Second-Avenue movie theatre.
Tómasdóttir made the audience laugh when she said she felt like the “most underdressed woman” on stage as she stood before Ánnríki’s staff/models, who were wearing a variety of traditional Icelandic outfits from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
“Let me start by saying congratulations for 150 years of friendship and developing and maintaining shared values like resilience – and I think there’s a lot of resilience to be able to wear these costumes on this one day!” said Tómasdóttir, referring to the intense Interlake heat. “There are some shared roots that I feel on this first visit I’ve made to Manitoba – not my first visit to Canada but the first to come here – and I can only sum it up by saying I felt immediately as if I had come home.”
Speaking of the history of the first Icelanders to the area in 1875, and her tour of communities such as Arborg, Hecla and Gimli where residents “opened up your arms” to her, the president said what really stood out is the “solidarity of the bond between the two countries and in particular between the people here. It is very strong here.”
Tómasdóttir paid tribute to Ánnríki whose female and male members worked in solidarity and collaboration to make a beautiful new costume for the IFM’s Fjallkona, or Lady of the Mountain, who personifies Iceland and presides over the annual festival.
To mark 150 years of New Iceland, Ánnríki’s co-owners Guðrún Hildur Rósenkjær (an historian and tailor) and Ásmundur Kristjánsson (a goldsmith) and their staff/models formally presented the festival with the new kyrtill, or tunic, and headpiece (which Gunnvör Dánielsdóttir Ásmundsson, the Fjallkona, was already wearing) and a handmade Viking-themed gold brooch, along with a commemorative book about the gift. The outfit was presented to the women of New Iceland on behalf of the women of Iceland.
Ánnríki member Guðlaug Sigurðardóttir said the story of the Fjallkona captured the company’s attention as she holds an important role on both sides of the Atlantic during cultural celebrations. And the company was surprised to find out about Gimli’s Fjallkona tradition, which began even “earlier than in Iceland.”
When the group paid a visit to Gimli a few years ago, she said they were “deeply moved” by their Canadian hosts’ hospitality and penchant for Icelandic history.
“One of the things – I know you know this – we Icelanders love most is tracing ties and discovering new connections through family or friendship. And, truly, we share both here in Canada. Wherever we went [in Gimli], people showed a keen interest in our costumes and we had a lot of conversation about the Icelandic national costume,” said Sigurðardóttir. “By the end of the trip, the idea emerged to return here today in the year 2025 on the 150th anniversary and present the new handmade kyrtill for the Fjallkona as a gift.”
IFM president Sigrún Ásmundsson said she had initially accepted the kyrtill in Iceland in June, but it’s “fantastic” to have Ánnríki attend the festival to present it.
“We just couldn’t believe the generosity of this gorgeous gift and to have all these 19 women put some piece of themselves into this. It’s so beautiful,” said Ásmundsson, referring to the teamwork required to make the pearly white tunic with gold embroidery. “…. I know everyone who was involved has really put their heart into this and they’re so proud of this. It’s such a beautiful project to bring all these people together, not just the 19 women but their partners and families who helped contribute …. And we are beyond thankful for this beautiful gift. We’ll have our Fjallkona wearing it for many, many years to come. It’s absolutely stunning.”
Rósenkjær delivered a spellbinding and humorous history lesson about traditional Icelandic costumes through the centuries. She and the company’s female and male staff modelled outfits from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
Rósenkjær started removing her clothing on stage until she was in 18th-century-style undergarments.
“At that time women had a shirt, a blouse, undergarments and a corset in place of a bra. And attached to the corset is an underskirt made of wool. I put on around eight underskirts and it’s too warm. I’m going to take off the scarf. This is so fun,” she said to much laughter. “This [her undergarments] wasn’t decent in 1760. You didn’t show yourself like this.”
Rósenkjær then took the audience through various transitions in traditional dress over the decades, including the time that the corset became part of the outer costume rather than something hidden beneath it, embroidered removable collars exclusive to Iceland as no other Nordic country had them, and the 19th-century bouffant headdress adopted from a style associated with Queen Victoria of England.
Local women and girls – and boys – then modelled their own traditional Icelandic costumes, many handed down from their forebears or ones they made themselves. The models included past festival Fjallkonas and their descendants.
“You can see how the [fashion] tradition was continued with the people who moved here within the last 150 years,” said Ásmundsson, who hosted the fashion show.
The festival will be displaying its Fjallkona’s new kyrtill and headpiece to the public at the festival’s headquarters in the Waterfront Centre.
