Tropical Scandinavia × Chacha | Wearable Art Collab

wearable art collab

Tropical Scandinavia x Chacha (8)

This wearable art collaboration connects Emil and Johanna, otherwise known as Tropical Scandinavia, with 8-year-old Chacha from the SDN 004 Mentarang school in Pulau Sapi. Chacha is fascinated with the ‘strange’ and unexplainable aspects of life. All proceeds from the merch sales will go towards helping her school.

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Meet the collaborators:

Chacha (8)

Tropical Scandinavia (swe)

Chacha (8)

Pulau Sapi, Indonesia

Chacha is an 8-year-old second grader from SDN 004 Mentarang and lives in a small town called Pulau Sapi in North-Kalimantan. She might be a bit soft-spoken, but when she talks about her imagination, she becomes confident, expressive, and surprisingly philosophical. Chacha listens closely, wants to give correct answers, and adjusts her explanations when needed. This mix of carefulness and creativity gives insight into a child who is both sensitive and imaginative.

Tropical Scandinavia

Sweden

Emil and Johanna are the Swedish duo behind Tropical Scandinavia. Whether they met through fate or the scheming of their mutual friends, they’re not sure. Whatever the case, they’ve been inseparable ever since. They started Tropical Scandinavia as an outlet to their creativity and to make objects charged with good intentions. Their shared love of tropical themes and mysticism has made them not only a strong couple, but unique in their artistry. That’s why we’re so proud to have them develop an illustration with their talent and positive energy.

A drawing based on the theme of ‘strange’

For her drawing, Chacha (8) was given the theme of ‘strange’. With this, we wanted to see the world through her perspective. After all, the concept of ‘normal’ only exists because something is considered as strange. Her drawing illustrates a personal experience where she saw something strange while walking home from a religious service. She claims to have seen a hantu (ghost), which sparked her interest in the supernatural. This anecdote provides a glimpse into Chacha's personal life and experiences, showcasing her willingness to share and discuss unusual events.

Creativity and important conversations

Tropical Scandinavia about their collab with Chacha: “We had a lot of fun making the drawing, and we loved working with someone else’s idea. We would have never been able to come up with this design ourselves. Something that was also really nice was that our son was with us when we started the drawing. He also made his own version of it and we started talking about ghosts and the supernatural.”

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Instinct rather than rules

Chacha’s art expresses ideas she may not yet have the words for, revealing a universe inside her that is bigger than what she lets on. Her imagination is playful but also thoughtful. She notes that her drawing feels “weird” because it shows things “humans can’t see,” hinting at a worldview where magic, mystery, and reality quietly overlap. This is typical of Chacha: she doesn’t just observe the world: she wonders about it. She thinks beyond what is visible and creates from instinct rather than rules.

"kids are often so free"

“We did it like we always do, sending sketches back and forth between us, drawing first by hand. When we came up with the final drawing, we scanned it to the computer and started working with colours. I think we actually kept most of the elements, but moved them around a bit,” explains Johanna. “We have two kids, our oldest (6) loves to draw and we often draw together. He’s such an inspiration to us. Kids are often so free in their way of thinking and perceiving the world.”