In the course of speaking about her wedding, Nora Arrhenius Hagdahl describes herself as “very much a fashion girl,” “a flirty girl,” “a craft girl,” and “a waist girl.” So, to accommodate all of these different aspects of herself, the bride donned three looks over the course of the celebration at which drew creatives from Berlin, London, and Stockholm.
Hagdahl, an art critic and co-founder (with Frida Vega Salomonsson) of Nuda Paper, a culture and fashion magazine, tied the knot with Kornél Kovács a DJ, music producer and co-founder (with Axel Boman and Petter Nordkvist) of the record label Studio Barnhus. They were introduced by a mutual friend one cold and dark winter in 2021. “It was very much like love at first sight,” Hagdahl recalls. “Kornél was basically telling me that he wanted to get married after a couple of times that we met. And I was like, ‘Yeah, sure, let’s make that happen.’ It is just a very natural and electric and fantastic relationship.”
As Nuda regularly stages exhibitions and happenings, Hagdahl took the wedding planning in her stride. “I always dreamed of having a big party for my friends, and because I lived in different places and Kornél has so many friends all over the world, the dream was to have everybody meet,” she says. “That was the big appeal for me, to have all these worlds come together.” This comingling took place at the bride’s parents’ home in Opptuna, about an hour away from Stockholm. The houses on the property, which are surrounded by fields, date to the 18th and 19th century and there is archeological evidence that the area has been inhabited since the early Bronze Age. There was nothing retrograde in the wedding attire, however. The groom wore Our Legacy and the bride’s first dress, made of vintage shirt collars, was by Ellen Hodakova Larsson, whom Hagdahl has previously written for.
“I went over to the studio, and Ellen brought everything out that she had in white,” the bride recounts. The designer customized the dress by snatching it in at the waist. “I love the rougher style of that one; I mean, it’s very cocktail, very femme, but also it’s super harsh, and there are these bows on the side. It makes it really fun. Also, there’s all the writing on the collars [listing] the manufacturers, which is just really unexpected and really lovely. Ellen was such a doll for making that happen.” Hagdahl wore the look while guests sipped a custom cocktail from glasses covered in lip prints. “The pre-drink [of vodka, rhubarb and rose] was a bit of a performance by Cues, an art bar here in Stockholm run by artists Anton Halla and Annie Åkerman,” she says. “All the glasses were kissed by either me or Kornél though Chanel Allure No 58 lipstick being put on two silicon molds of our lips. My dad, who is an artist, helped us make the molds, which meant me and Kornél had to pout in plaster for 40 minutes without moving.”
For the ceremony, Hagdahl changed into a custom wedding dress made by Johanna Larsson, a Swedish School of Textiles graduate who also works as a makeup artist. “I knew that Johanna is amazing at making fitted corsets—she has such an attention to detail that is really, really impressive—and I know that we shared references, like anime and Vivienne Westwood,” the bride says. “The dress was basically made by her and me together at her house. She was sewing, and we were listening to music together, and it was a very, very collaborative [process].”
Constructed in an ivory hue, the basque corset extended down to an abbreviated pouf skirt with a bow with trailing streamers at the center back. “I wanted a short dress for all my party gays from Berlin.” The dress was accessorized with white tights and Werner Kern shoes. “It’s an old German brand that does just ballroom dance shoes—nothing fancy, really,” she adds.
Feeling crafty, the bride made her own veil—as well as the bra top—for the dance outfit that came together with the help of Nicole Walker, an in-demand stylist who works with Yung Lean. “I wouldn’t have been able to do anything without her,” says Hagdahl. “She was the perfect guide. The last look was all her, it was her skirt. It’s an old skirt from the opera house, I think it’s from [a production of] Swan Lake in the ’90s. The top I made, [as] Nicole is always like, ‘You have to go sexier.’ Obviously, this skirt is ridiculous and really fun, but also very beautiful.”
