Linda Rampell


Linda Rampell, born 5 December 1971, in Stockholm, Sweden, is a Swedish design theorist, fashion historian, researcher, lecturer and author of several books. She holds a PhD at Lund University. In her PhD thesis she deconstructs the modernist discourse of nationalist design in Sweden. In her postdoctoral research project Homo Capitalistes, she concludes that "the only ism after postmodernism is consumerism", and that the postmodern condition has become a shopmodern condition, in which aesthetics and economics have merged into aesthetonomics, which defines an economy of seeing evaluating how much a being is worth. Shopmodernism is the last art historical 'ism'. Objects of knowledge have become consumer goods. The ongoing financialization of everyday life is laid bare through fashionalization. Rampell is a member of International Association of Art Critics and has written articles, essays and books on the subjects consumer cultures, fashion and design theory.

Selection of Essays in English

Universal Design: Megalomania and Hypocrisy, pp. 18–21, Design Matters Vol. 7 2004, published by Danish Design Centre.The Myth of Swedish and Scandinavian Design, pp. 48–51, Design Matters Vol 3 2003, published by Danish Design Centre.Andrea Branzi: ’Out with the Blonde and Perfect Design!’, pp. 70–75, Design Matters, Vol 4 2004 published by Danish Design Centre.Towards a Fashion Diagnosis, The Nordic Textile Journal, Vol. 1 2010, published by The Swedish School of Textiles, University of Borås.