Unlike in most parts of the world, Iceland's design scene is overwhelmingly female. Nat Barker explores what makes the tiny Nordic nation different.
This year, Iceland's annual design festival, DesignMarch, began just three days after Milan design week, which is still the biggest event in the industry calendar.
For anyone attending both, the stark contrast in the visibility of women was impossible to miss.
While women were once again pushed to the margins in Milan, in Reykjavík their work and presence dominated across the exhibitions.
In some ways, the prevalence of women in the design scene is reflective of Icelandic society as a whole.
The country has topped the World Economic Forum's gender equality rankings for the last 14 years in a row. "Women in Iceland are quite experimental"
DesignMarch managing director Halla Helgadóttir argues that Iceland's tradition of strong female leaders and creative voices has encouraged designers.
"We have very strong women role models in Iceland, and have had for a long time," she told Dezeen.
"Björk is the most famous of some strong creative role models that broke through internationally, which has had a huge influence on the belief in Iceland that we can go further with what we do," she added.
"So women in Iceland are quite experimental and innovative."
The youthfulness of Iceland's design field has also been significant, she suggests.
In the late 1980s, a young Tinna Gunnarsdóttir travelled f...