MANUAL
From bookazine no. 8 the fashion issue. About S.N.S. Herning and about beeing a herritage brand
November 2022
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Since 1923, S. N. S. Herning has been making fisherman sweaters from 100% wool.
Over the years, the iconic sweater has varied between the status of ‘functional classic’ and ‘high fashion’.
It has a characteristic bubbly pattern that is not just decorative but also insulating, due to the air trapped inside the bubbles, at least if the knit is dense and in pure wool, like the original.
S. N. S Herning was founded in 1919 by Søren Nielsen Skyt.
At the time, the Herning region was known for its many wool merchants.
In 1960, the area around Herning, Ikast and Brande was home to 500 textile factories of varying sizes.
The founder’s son and daughter-in-law, Holger and Birthe Skyt, owned and ran the company from 1995 to 2005, a time when most firms were either moving or had already moved production to Eastern Europe and the Baltics. S. N. S. Herning followed suit.
Many textile companies still maintain design and sales departments in the Herning area.
Since 2005, Søren Nikolaj Skyt has been at the helm together with his wife, Laila Sparre Skyt. She is in charge of purchasing and production, while he is responsible for design and sales.
S. N. S. Herning has an office, showroom and a small share of its production in Videbæk, 25 km west of Herning.
The firm moved to its current location in 2020. (2023 the moved to Herning)
Søren Nikolaj Skyt lays out the contents of his working bag on the table:
A large collection of visibly aged cards with knitting samples in various qualities and structures and a sheet of paper from 1923 with an inventory of the items Søren Nielsen Skyt (the current Søren’s grandfather) had in his bag when he fell over on his bicycle as he was doing his rounds, selling wool products, and was picked up by the police fisherman sweaters, jumpers and socks.
Søren has recently returned from a creative retreat at Mols, he explains. Sheltered from everyday chores and routines, he and a tailor who is involved in developing the collection brainstormed on next season’s collection from S. N. S. Herning.
‘I find the traditional knitting structures interesting and want to find a way to activate them. The knitting machines had their limitations, so the knitter’s creativity was pushed to the limit.
The 1923 inventory shows that we offered a wide range of products back then, too.
If a brand is characterized by comprising a variety of product types, S. N. S. has always been a brand,’ he says with a smile. ‘I would like to add even more product types to our collection, which already goes beyond fisherman sweaters.
I have previously worked with external designers, and I have a good, ongoing creative dialogue with my friend designer Jens Laugesen. With all due respect, no one has quite managed to take us to where we need to be.’ He adds, ‘As a direct descendant, I’m closer to S. N. S. than anyone else, and the sooner you accept that obligation, the faster you can move forward.’ He references philosopher Immanuel Kant to underscore his idea that the best way forward is to view limitations as opportunities.
‘We named the collection we’re currently working on “Manual” because it follows a specific formula. We look at what we have, and rather than reproducing it directly, we take two steps back and assess the situation before we plot our course.’
Søren’s father, Holger, who still comes into work every day, has joined us. I ask him what he thinks of the fact that his old company now has a philosophical dimension.
‘I wasn’t capable of thinking that way myself; in my time, we had our hands full dealing with day-to-day tasks. Now, I am developing an understanding of something I knew but didn’t know that I knew – that’s interesting.’
He adds, ‘My wife, Birthe, and I often talk about how great it is that the next generation was willing to take over, and how lucky it is that Søren’s wife also had both the desire and the skills to get involved.’
‘Without her, nothing,’ Søren interjects and then turns to me and says, ‘Before your visit I thought about whether what we do actually qualifies as craft.
According to the dictionary, a craft is the commercial practice of making or processing something using tools and other devices that are operated by hand or other parts of the body in a way that usually requires professional training; this activity usually takes place in a workshop or at a building site.
The knitting machines are no longer manually operated but electric, but of course, they’re still a tool. Afterwards, I’ll show you the machines my dad is working with. They are controlled by punch cards that he makes himself.
I certainly consider his work a craft and would love to learn how to make punch cards. I can more or less keep the machines running and restart them if they stop, but I’m not yet able to control them.’
Holger says that he learned the craft from scratch, both by learning on the job in his father’s company – in the storeroom, on the knitting floor and in the workroom – and at textile college. ‘We never talked about whether I would take over the company, just as we never discussed whether I needed to learn the trade in both theory and practice.
Today, most knitting machines are computer-controlled, but working with punch cards the way I do takes us one step closer to the machine and provides a deeper understanding that the young people who are being trained today are lacking, if you ask me.’
‘You advised me and my siblings not to follow in your footsteps,’ says Søren. ‘I often wonder whether that reflected an expectation, or at least a hope, that we might ignore your advice?’
Holger smiles.
Birthe has joined us, and we continue our conversation over open sandwiches.
She too comes in every day.
She apologizes for being late, she had to water the garden before she could leave.
When Søren joined the company and later took over, his goal was to re-establish production in Denmark.
At that time, like most other textile manufacturers in the area, S. N. S. Herning had long since moved its production to Poland.
The company’s main clients then were businesses or public sector institutions, including the Danish national railway service DSB and the Danish Prison and Probation Service.
You studied philosophy, Nordic languages and psychology – why did you choose to become a knitwear manufacturer? I ask.
‘First of all, I had exhausted my student aid, it was 1997, and I needed a job.
Moreover,’ says Søren, ‘in Aarhus, where I was studying, I had noticed that fisherman sweaters were trendy, and I felt a calling to show the world that the real fisherman sweater, the original, comes from S. N. S. Herning.
At the time, dad had just a few maritime distributors of the fisherman sweater, he had a heart condition, and he had shut down the Polish production. Generally, the company was falling apart.
When I realized, to my indignation, that there were unoriginal fisherman sweaters in circulation, I talked to my dad about whether we might relaunch the original, made in Herning.’
They decided to go ahead with that plan, and without any basis for entering the fashion industry, Søren took on the task of bringing the original fisherman sweater into play.
At some level, however, he must have known what he was doing, because his first step was to contact the now defunct shop Pede & Stoffer in Copenhagen. They took in S. N. S. Herning’s products, which proved very successful. They also offered tips about others he might contact. This took him to Germany, where he sold sweaters to a handful of shops before ending up at the king of them all, The Corner in Berlin. The Corner was interested, but only if they could get the exclusive rights for Germany. Søren turned the offer down, since he had already spent a week travelling round Germany and had made arrangements with five other shops. He says that if he had known then what he knows now, he would have cancelled these other orders and taken any order, big or small, from The Corner.
Although he did not close a deal with The Corner, the buyer generously recommended that Søren contact Dover Street Market in London. ‘Market’, he thought, ‘are they trying to insult me?’
Despite his reservations, he went to London, and at short notice he was granted a meeting with Rei Kawakubo, the Japanese owner of Dover Street Market and Comme des Garçons. Little did he know that he was meeting one of the most influential individuals in the world of fashion at the time.
Søren says that when Dover Street Market placed its first order, of 32 sweaters, his parents were not impressed, as they had recently sold 40 sweaters to a maritime shop in western Jutland.
Since then, they have learned that 32 sweaters can change everything. The cooperation with Dover Street Market in London, New York City, Tokyo, Singapore, Beijing and Los Angeles is still in place and has also led to a collaboration with Comme des Garçons.
At the Paris Fashion Week, S. N. S. Herning exhibits in a trendy showroom, which has led to collaborations with many good clients around the world.
‘When I began this journey into the fashion industry, I did not know the unwritten rules or codes, but I did have a sense that I wanted to be a part of it and with full integrity,’ says Søren.
‘I now know that the prestigious shops are prestigious because they are run by people who know what they’re doing and because, like us, they have put time and energy into building their brand.
Without the hype they can bring, you can have the world’s best product and still never sell a single item.
The added quality that comes from this volatile dimension is interesting. It’s not phony; it springs from people’s emotional attachment to the product and reflects that the story is just as valuable as the product in itself. The way I see it, the value of S. N. S. Herning relates to the fact that the fisherman sweater is the preferred choice of fishermen.’
We go into the showroom and knitting hall. The showroom is spick and span; it’s almost like seeing the Parisian Marais district transplanted to a field west of Herning. From the showroom, we can see the knitting machines.
Holger is back from his lunch break, knitting throws from leftover yarn from year’s productions: small series in sophisticated patterns and colourways. Birthe finishes them on the sewing machine. Hats and scarves are also made on-site, says Holger, but not sweaters.
In 2018, a crisis caused by a slump in sales to the Japanese market required a reconstruction. As part of this process, the machines were relocated to Latvia.
The main production now takes place on the company’s own machines in the Danish-owned factory, which has also for many years handled the sewing of the sweaters. It has been a long time since that sort of work was being done in the Herning area.
‘On the one hand, it was difficult, because we had based our self-concept on having production in Herning. On the other hand, it was easy, because it allowed us to ensure continued high-quality production,’ Søren explains. ‘In a sense, it is also more rational. Doing the knitting in Herning and then sending the knit pieces to Latvia to be sewn led to a certain degree of waste, because a part might be missing or flawed. That is easy to handle now, because everything happens under the same roof. We use the same wool we have been using for years: Australian wool spun in Italy.’
The European Union has launched a textile strategy for 2030 with sustainability as a key theme.
The aim of the EU’s new textile strategy, EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, is to make the textile industry sustainable, as part of the effort to achieve the EU’s climate goals.
The strategy defines a vision for the European fashion and textile industry and textile consumption. By 2030, it calls for all textile products marketed in the EU to be durable, repairable, reusable and recyclable made as much as possible of recycled fibres free of hazardous substances produced with respect for social rights and the environment
The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles expresses very explicit criticism of fast fashion and a clear dedication to fighting over-production and over-consumption.
‘When customers tell us they have had their fisherman sweater for 20 years and that they prefer to have it repaired rather than buying a new one, because the old sweater has a story and a history, then we know we’ve got something.’
So you’re saying that you are in the clear with sweaters that are made from guaranteed pure wool and labelled as ‘sea water-certified’? – I am referring here to S. N. S. Herning’s hang tag.
‘Our hang tag offers a guarantee and a promise about what the product can handle. We state that this is a registered trademark, which means we’re serious.
We are personally committed, putting ourselves on the line. S. N. S. was my grandfather’s initials, and they’re also mine.
We definitely need to focus on both development and improvement, but I don’t see a convincing plan for how we can use circularity to both put the brakes on consumption and keep the economy going so that we can continue to improve living conditions for the poorest people around the world.’
Søren turns to the topic of the letters in S. N. S. and their symbolic impact, both on his self-concept and in his presentation and exposure of S. N. S. Herning.
‘The text on the back of our hang tag was created from the 12 unique letters on the front.
I sought advice from my cousin, who is a graphic designer, when I was writing the text on the back many years ago. First, he proposed using a similar typography, but to me, that felt like cheating. As an alternative, he said that we could design the missing letters, so that I had a full alphabet to work with. That didn’t appeal to me either. In the end, we isolated the 12 existing letters and worked with them. A good example of how it is possible to meet a given challenge when the options are limited.’
He explains how the system developed by the mathematician Fibonacci can be applied to the year S. N. S. was founded to define a number sequence that results in the golden ratio.
‘This illustrates that it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you keep doing it and adhere to a known principle, an unwritten manual – when you pursue something you will do better and better.’
S. N. S. Herning har siden 1923 produceret sømandstrøjer af 100% uld.
Den ikoniske sømandstrøje har gennem årene vekselvis været en funktionel klassiker og et stykke modetøj.
Trøjens karakteristik er et boblet mønster, som ikke bare er dekorativt, men på grund af den luft, som indkapsles i boblerne, også er isolerende, i hvert fald hvis den som den oprindelige version strikkes tæt og af ren uld.
S. N. S. Herning blev etableret i 1919 af Søren Nielsen Skyt.
På den tid var Herningområdet befolket af uldkræmmere. I 1960 var der i Herning-Ikast-Brandeområdet knap 500 tekstilfabrikker, større og mindre.
Søn og svigerdatter Holger og Birthe Skyt ejede og drev virksomheden fra 1995 til 2005 i en periode, hvor de fleste flyttede eller havde flyttet deres produktion til Østeuropa og de baltiske lande, således også dem.
Mange tekstilvirksomheder har stadig deres design- og salgsafdelinger i Herning-Ikast-Brandeområdet.
Siden 2005 har Søren Nikolaj Skyt været ved roret. Han driver virksomheden sammen med Laila Sparre Skyt, som han er gift med. Hun er indkøbs- og produktionschef, han er designer og salgschef.
S, N. S. Herning har kontor, showroom og i mindre omfang produktion i Videbæk 25 km vest for Herning. De nuværende lokaler blev taget i brug i 2020.
(siden bookazinet udkom er S. N. S. Herning flyttet til det centrale Herning)
Søren Nikolaj Skyt pakker sin arbejdstaske ud og placerer dens indhold på bordet foran mig:
En lang række tydeligt gamle papkort med strikprøver i forskellige kvaliteter og strukturer og en lap papir fra 1923. Papiret er en liste over, hvilke ejendele Søren Nielsen Skyt (bedstefar) havde i sin taske, da han, på vej ud for at sælge uldvarer, væltede på sin cykel og blev samlet op af politiet: sømandstrøjer, jumpers og strømper. Søren er netop kommet tilbage fra et kreativt break på Mols, forklarer han. Her har han, skærmet fra hverdagens gøremål, sammen med en skrædder, som assisterer med kollektionsudviklingen, brainstormet på S. N. S. Hernings næste sæsonkollektion.
“De gamle strikstrukturer interesserer mig og skal på en eller anden måde aktiveres. Maskinerne kunne ikke så meget, og man pressede dermed strikkerens kreativitet maksimalt.
Papiret fra 1923 er et vidnesbyrd om, at vi også tidligere har fremstillet produkter til alle hylder.
Hvis det, som kendetegner et brand, er flere forskellige produkttyper, så har S. N. S. altid været et brand”, siger han med et smil, “jeg vil gerne addere flere forskellige produkttyper til vores kollektion, som allerede nu rummer langt mere end sømandstrøjer.”
“Jeg har tidligere forsøgt at arbejde med eksterne designere, og jeg er i en løbende og god kreativ dialog med min ven designeren Jens Laugesen. I al respekt så har ingen kunnet føre os helt i mål”. Han fortsætter: “Jeg er på grund af slægtskabet nærmere S. N. S. end en hvilken som helst anden, som kommer cyklende forbi, og jo hurtigere man bøjer sigind under et givent vilkår, jo bedre går det.”
Han refererer til filosoffen Immanuel Kant for at underbygge sin idé om, hvordan det bedste resultat opnås ved at se begrænsningerne som muligheder.
“Kollektionen, vi arbejder på, er døbt Manual – fordi den skabes på en formel. Vi ser på, hvad vi har, genskaber ikke direkte, men træder to skridt bort og tager bestik, inden vi udstikker kursen.”
Sørens far, Holger, som stadig har sin daglige gang i virksomheden, er stødt til. Jeg spørger ham, hvad han synes om, at hans gamle virksomhed har fået en filosofisk overbygning.
“Jeg var ikke selv i stand til at tænke sådan, vi havde i min tid rigeligt at gøre med de daglige gøremål. Nu får jeg forståelse for noget, jeg vidste, men ikke vidste,
at jeg vidste – det er spændende.”
Han supplerer: “Du skal forstå, at Birthe, min hustru, og jeg tit taler om, både at det er fantastisk, at næste generation ville tage over, og om hvor heldigt det er, at Sørens hustru også har haft lyst og evner til at involvere sig.”
“Uden hende ingenting”, bryder Søren ind, og han fortsætter henvendt til mig: “Jeg har inden dit besøg tænkt over, om det, vi laver, egentlig kan kaldes for et håndværk?
Ifølge ordbogen betyder håndværk erhvervsmæssig udførelse af et arbejde, hvorved noget fremstilles eller forarbejdes ved hjælp af redskaber og andre hjælpemidler, der betjenes med hænderne eller andre dele af kroppen på en måde, som oftest kræver faglig uddannelse; arbejdet foregår i værksteder eller på byggepladser.
Strikkemaskinerne er ikke længere hånddrevne, men elektriske, men dog et værktøj. Du skal bagefter se de maskiner, min far passer. De er styret af hulkort, som han fremstiller.
Selv betragter jeg det, han udfører, som en form for et kunsthåndværk, og jeg vil meget gerne lære kunsten at lave hulkort. Jeg kan i store træk holde maskinerne kørende og få dem i gang igen, hvis de stopper, men altså endnu ikke styre dem.”
Holger fortæller, at han har lært håndværket fra bunden, både gennem at arbejde i sin fars virksomhed, på lageret, i strikkeriet og på systuen og ved at gå på tekstilskole. “Vi talte aldrig om, hvorvidt jeg skulle overtage, og det var aldrig til diskussion, at jeg skulle lære faget at kende både teoretisk og praktisk. I dag er de fleste strikkemaskiner computerstyrede, men at arbejde med hulkort, som jeg gør, er et skridt nærmere maskinen og giver en dybere forståelse, som de unge, som uddannes, nu mangler, hvis du spørger mig.”
“Du frarådede mine søskende og mig at gå i dine fodspor”, siger Søren,
“jeg har tit tænkt på, om der i dit råd lå en forventning eller i hvert fald forhåbning om, at vi ville trodse det.”
Holger smiler.
Birthe er dukket op, og vi fortsætter samtalen over et stykke højt belagt smørrebrød. Også hun kommer dagligt i virksomheden.
Hun undskylder for at komme sent, haven skulle vandes, inden hun kunne gå hjemmefra.
Da Søren kom ind i virksomheden og siden overtog, var det med det formål at genetablere dansk produktion. S. N. S. Herning havde da, i en årrække, ligesom de
fleste andre tekstilfabrikanter fra området, haft sin produktion i Polen.
Virksomhedens primære kunder var i den periode erhvervskunder som DSB og Kriminalforsorgen.
Du havde læst filosofi, nordiske sprog og psykologi,hvorfor skulle du være strikproducent, vil jeg vide?
“For det første var studiestøtten sluppet op. Vi er i 1997, jeg behøvede et job.
For det andet”, forklarer Søren, “havde jeg i Aarhus, hvor jeg studerede og boede, opdaget, at det var blevet moderne at gå med sømandstrøje, og jeg følte mig kaldet til at vise verden, at den rigtige, den originale, kommer fra S. N. S. Herning.
På det tidspunkt havde far bare ganske få maritime forhandlere af sømandstrøjen, han havde hjerteproblemer og havde lukket ned i Polen, og virksomheden var ved at falde fra hinanden.
Min opdagelse og min indignation over, at der var uoriginale sømandstrøjer i omløb, fik mig til at tale med far om, hvorvidt vi kunne relancere originalen- vel at mærke, igen strikket i Herning.”
Sådan blev det, og uden at have nogen forudsætning for at entrere modebranchen, kastede Søren sig over at få den originale sømandstrøje med i loopet.
Lidt må han dog have vidst, eller fornemmet, for han henvendte sig som det første til den nu hedengangne Pede & Stoffer i København. De ville gerne forhandle S. N. S. Herning og gjorde det med stor succes. De ville også bidrage med tips til, hvem han ellers burde opsøge. Det førte ham til Tyskland. I Tyskland solgte han sweatre til en håndfuld butikker, inden han havnede hos kongen over dem alle, The Corner i Berlin.
The Corner var interesserede, men kun hvis de kunne få eksklusivitet i hele Tyskland. Det afslog Søren, han havde jo netop brugt en uges tid på at rejse rundt og havde solgt til fem andre butikker.
Han fortæller, at havde han den gang vidst, hvad han nu ved, havde han annulleret de fem ordrer og taget imod en bestilling, stor eller lille, fra The Corner.
Det blev ikke til et samarbejde med The Corner, men generøst nok anbefalede indkøberen Søren at opsøge Dover Street Market i London. Market, tænkte han, “mon de vil fornærme mig?”
Han tog alligevel af sted og fik med kort varsel foretræde for japanske Rei Kawakubo, ejer af
Dover Street Market og Comme des Garçons, intetanende at han stod over for en af de, på det tidspunkt, mest indflydelsesrige personer i modebranchen internationalt.
Søren fortæller, at da Dover Street Market lagde sin første ordre på 32 trøjer, imponerede ordren ikke hans forældre, som samtidig havde solgt 40 tilsvarende til en maritim butik i Vestjylland.
De har dog siden erfaret, at 32 trøjer kan forandre alt. Samarbejdet med Dover Street Market i London, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Beijing og Los Angeles løber stadig og har kastet et collab med Comme des Garçons af sig.
S. N. S. Herning udstiller under modeugen i Paris i et fashionabelt showroom og har herigennem fået en lang række gode internationale kunder.
“Da jeg begyndte min rejse ind i modebranchen, kunne jeg ikke alle de uskrevne regler og genkendte ikke koderne, men jeg havde dog en fornemmelse af, eller i hvert fald et ønske om, at være med, med fuld integritet”, forklarer Søren.
“Jeg ved nu, at dem, som har de prestigefulde butikker, har prestige, fordi de har forstand på det, de laver, og fordi de ligesom os har brugt deres tid og energi på at raffinere deres brand.
Uden den hype, de kan tilføre, kan man sidde med verdens bedste produkt uden at få det solgt.
Det tillæg, som kommer fra den volatile dimension, optager mig. Det er ikke falsk, men har at gøre med, hvordan man emotionelt forbinder sig til et produkt, og handler om, at fortællingen er af lige så stor værdi som produktet i sig selv, og jeg tænkte, at værdien af S. N. S. Herning er knyttet til, at sømandstrøjen også er foretrukket af fiskerne.”
Vi rejser os for at se på showroom og strikkeri. Showroomet er snorlige og ligner Paris’ Maraiskvarter placeret på en mark vest for Herning. Herfra er der indsyn til strikkemaskinerne.
Holger er i gang efter frokostpausen, han strikker plaider af restgarner fra årsproduktionerne, små serier i raffinerede mønstre og farvekombinationer.
Birthe færdiggør dem ved symaskinen. Der strikkes også huer og halstørklæder på stedet, forklarer Holger.
Derimod ingen trøjer. En krise, forårsaget af nedgang i salget på det japanske marked, medførte i 2018 en rekonstruktion, som blandt andet fik som konsekvens, at maskinparken blev skibet til Letland.
Den store produktion foregår nu, på egne maskiner, på den danskejede fabrik, som gennem mange år har syet trøjerne sammen; det er længe siden, der har været systuer i Herningområdet.
“Det var på den ene side svært, fordi vi havde bygget vores selvforståelse op omkring produktion i Herning, på den anden side let, fordi vi dermed kunne sikre en fortsat produktion af høj kvalitet”, forklarer Søren. “For så vidt er det også mere rationelt. Eftersom vi kun strikkede i Herning og efterfølgende sendte strikstykkerne til Letland for at få dem syet sammen, hændte det ofte, at der var spild fordi der manglede en del og var fejl på en anden. Den udfordring kan nu let løses, fordi det hele foregår under samme tag. Ulden, vi strikker af, er den samme, som vi har brugt i årevis – australsk uldspundet i Italien.”
Ambitionen i EU’s nye tekstilstrategi, “EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles”, har som mål at gøre tekstilbranchen bæredygtig for at leve op til EU’s klimamål.
Strategien definerer en vision for den europæiske mode og tekstilbranche og for tekstilforbrug i EU, som betyder, at alle tekstilprodukter, der markedsføres i EU, i 2030 skal være: holdbare, mulige at reparere og genanvendelige i høj grad fremstillet af genbrugsfibre fri for farlige stoffer produceret under ordentlige forhold ift. sociale rettigheder.
EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles udtrykker en meget direkte kritik af Fast Fashion og et tydeligt ønske om at bekæmpe overproduktion og overforbrug.
EU har lanceret en tekstilstrategi 2030. Vi kommer ikke uden om at tale om bæredygtighed.
“Det er svært, men jeg tænker, at når kunderne fortæller os, at de har haft deres sømandssweater i
20 år og foretrækker at få den repareret frem for at købe en ny, fordi den gamle sweater har en historie,så ved vi da det…”
Du siger dermed, at I har jeres på det tørre med sweatre, som er fremstillet af garanteret ren uld og mærket som ‘søvandsægte’? – jeg henviser her til S. N. S. Hernings hangtag. “Vores hangtag garanterer noget og rummer et løfte om, hvad produktet kan holde til. Vi tilkendegiver, at der er tale om et indregistreret varemærke, altså vi er seriøse.
Vi er personligt involveret og har dermed noget på spil. S. N. S. var min bedstefars initialer, i øvrigt også mine.”
“Vi skal absolut både udvikle og forbedre, men jeg mangler at se et overbevisende bud på, hvordan vi ved hjælp af cirkularitet både bremser forbruget og holder gang i økonomien, således at vi til stadighed kan forbedre vilkårene for verdens fattigste.”
Søren fortsætter af et andet spor, som optager ham. Han forklarer om bogstaverne i S. N. S. og deres iboende kraft, som han anvender både i sin forståelse og sin iscenesættelse af S. N. S. Herning. “Teksten på bagsiden af vores hangtag er skabt ud af de 12 unikke bogstaver, som indgår på forsiden. Jeg spurgte min fætter, som er grafiker, til råds, da jeg for snart mange år siden skulle forfatte bagsiden. Først foreslog han at finde en lignende typografi, men det mente jeg var at snyde. Som alternativ foreslog han at tegne de manglende bogstaver, så jeg fik et helt alfabet at gøre godt med, heller ikke det var jeg interesseret i. Vi endte med at få frilagt de 12 bogstaver, som allerede findes, og at udtrykke os med dem.
Et fint billede på, hvordan vi og man kan håndtere en given udfordring, når der ikke er frit valg på allehylder.”
Han forklarer videre, hvordan han ved hjælp af matematiker Fibonaccis system ud fra S. N. S.’ registreringsår kan lave en talrække, som går mod det gyldne snit.
“Det forklarer, at det er lige meget, hvad du gør, bare du bliver ved med at gøre det efter et erkendt princip, en uskrevet manual, når du forfølger noget, så du gør det bedre og bedre.”