BACKSTAGE WITH ANNA RINGSTAD
15.06.2026 INTERVIEWBackstage - an interview series where I talk to creative interesting people about the backstage of their life. In the first edit, I spoke with fashion designer, stylist, and visionary Anna Ringstad.
After what must have been one of those down-the rabbit-hole kind of Instagram stalking sessions a few weeks back, I randomly stumbled across Anna Ringstad’s profile. There was just something about the aesthetic of the things she was creating and her effortlessly cool-girl aura (which I could indeed sense through the screen), that instantly sparked my curiosity. Fast forward a week later, and I met up with the ‘iconic, single, and based in Paris’-Anna Ringstad on a sunny Monday afternoon. Living up to her every word, she greeted me in a pair of big, fabulous sunglasses, a self-made bag (obviously), and a pair of hot pink Sonia Rykiel ballerinas.
I wanted to start at the beginning, because how did Anna even end up in the fashion industry?
"By chance, I ended up in Oslo to study Fashion Production at Oslo Met - I'd never been there before, knew nothing about the city or the industry, or what KHiO even was. I did a year at Oslo Met learning the basics; sewing shirts and jeans. I was lucky enough to live with someone who studied costume design at KHiO, and that's how I was introduced to it after that first year - if I hadn't lived with her, I would never have been introduced to it at all.”
During her time at KHiO, Anna went to do an internship in what one might argue is the only place acceptable for a young, emerging designer - the heart of haute couture and the world’s fashion capital: Paris. She was later offered a permanent position at her internship xx, and after spending eight months working and doing her degree remotely, she returned to finish her last year of school in Oslo. But clearly, Paris had left its mark, and she now lives there full-time, working on her eponymous brand from her sewing-sanctuary of a 19 square meter apartment-atelier in the 11th arrondissement near Place de la République - or, in her own words, ‘Oslo S’ with stylists.
"I thought, maybe I'll just pack all my things and go. If I can pay for what I need per month, I'll do it as long as I can. There hasn't really been a plan - but it's very nice to be there.”
“Once YOU move out, you also signal a kind of WILL - like, okay, I'm really going to INVEST in this.”
In a full on ‘pesto-pasta’ atmosphere, preferably in her pajamas, she works on various freelance projects, and her made-to-order custom Grocery IT-bags, a handbag first introduced in her graduation collection “Trickle Up, Trickle Down, Trickle Trickle Little Star”, inspired by the French ‘chariot de course’. An accurate translation would be those shopping trolleys on wheels the chic old ladies roll around, that you desperately wish you had when your weekly trip to the grocery store without fail turns into an intense bicep workout. Anna started documenting her time in Paris by writing essays and travel letters, and through these observations the Grocery IT-bag was born. And with it, one of the trademarks of her design-universe: irony.
"If you use irony and humor - an aesthetic that most people recognize - people outside the fashion bubble will also be interested, and understand more. That was the first thing that clicked. I was like, 'Oh my God’. This is where I want to be creating from. In this type of landscape.”
The Grocery IT-bags
But not everyone gets the privilege of wearing, or even ordering, one of her unique bags. All potential customers must fill out an application form to request purchasing, which she carefully reviews before approving or declining. What initially started as a joke, parodying the absurd Hermès waiting game of buying a Birkin, has now become her signature touch. Some describe exactly what kind of bag they want, and others write a tad more personal motivation letter, or a visual pitch - like a playlist - for Anna to interpret. Then, the bags are hand-crafted from all sorts of different materials and color combinations, and she even creates her own textile. Looking from the outside, it's almost like chasing a 6-foot, brown-eyed, hard-to-get player put into a system: you have to commit to what you want without knowing the outcome, and maybe they'll leave you high and dry, but that's the risk of putting one's heart on the line. Because yes, the rumors are true, people have been rejected.
"I like the idea that my customers have thought carefully about what they actually want - not just 'I've seen four people with this bag, I want the same.’ Everyone who wants to buy has to fill out a form: what do you know about me, why do you want a bag, what's your intention. Then I do a background check and decide if you're allowed to buy one.”
“It’s kind of like a PARODY of the fashion system itself. It started as a JOKE and a SILLY thing - but that's what makes it WORK today.”
Anna feels a lot of freedom being new to the industry, and points out that beginners of any kind should embrace the “I’m still new at this”-mentality. When you think about it, what’s more freeing than being able to experiment without the pressure of being a professional at it just yet? Because let’s face it, being a creative today requires wearing a lot of different hats - besides actually creating things, the job description requires for you to be the social media manager, the accountant, the publicist, and the overworked and underpaid assistant, all at once. But instead of turning it into a pity party, Anna reckoned that posting more casually and light-heartedly, while some of her work was still in the making, was a antidote to the growing pile of boring work tasks.
“Everyone thinks answering EMAILS and writing INVOICES is fucking boring. And if you also think that being on INSTAGRAM is just as BORING - yeah, then a lot of your time goes to WASTE on doing things you DON’T enjoy.”
Purple fake Chanel tweed dress Photography: xxxx
