In 1936, Haldis Nygård was a student at the Bergen Kunsthåndverksskole (School of Arts and Crafts) and became enthralled in one of the assignments. She and her classmates were charged with designing a bunad for the city of Bergen.
Haldis—according to her granddaughter Mona Nygård Turøy—had the soul of a designer and “a spark was lit from with her” when this project came up. Already a talented artist and embroiderer, Haldis wanted her bunad to have a timeless urban look, distinct from the flashier village models.
During World War II, bunad design was shelved due to lack of resources. Haldis was married with two kids by then, so she sketched and stitched when she could, and her bunad design—no longer a school project—was finally completed in 1956.
Despite being described by her family as indoorsy, Haldis enjoyed floral patterns and was inspired by area blooms and traditional rosemaling. She experimented with various color combinations, sewing multiple bunad drafts before settling on the look of today’s Bergen bunad.
Here we see Mona Nygård Turøy in the Bergen Bunad. The picture was taken in 1978. Right: Mona Nygård Turøy with her mother Hilde in 1977.
The first bergensbunad was sold in 1957, in navy blue wool emblazoned with bright local flowers. Today, thousands of bergensere (citizens of Bergen) wear their bunads proudly- all of them originating from the same shop. The bunad for women and girls are available in navy or off-white wool.
Haldis’ family members own exclusive rights to produce the Bergensbunad and her descendents’ business Bergen Broderiservice is a flurry of springtime activity, scheduling up to 14 fittings per day for locals preparing for confirmation and Syttende Mai festivities.
Mona Nygård Turøy is the shop’s general manager, and three generations of her family work together to carry the torch that Haldis lit. Each year, their business completes around 350 Bergensbunader, with two-thirds of these being produced between January and May.
Bunads are designed with extra fabric hidden in the seams, to be refitted throughout the wearer’s lifetime, so the high season also sees a rush of bunad alterations.
The jewelry for the Bergensbunad was co-designed by Haldis Nygård and has ties to Bergen’s geography. For example, in the sølje silver pin, raindrops dangle beneath stylized umbrellas, and peaks represent the city between de syv fjell, or seven mountains, as Bergen is called.
There is also a men’s bergenbunad, called Nystemten after Bergen’s official song. This model made its debut in 2005. The dark blue of the coat complements the women’s bunad, while the bright red or green vest and knicker edges give the herrebunad its own special pop of color.
Sources:
https://broderiservice.no/historie
https://bergensmagasinet.no/aktuelt/en-bunad-for-de-urbane/