Lovechild 1979 AW16’s show – Girl, you’ll be a woman soon

Before you go on reading this post, do me a favor and play this track by Urge Overkill: Girl, you’ll be a woman soon. You might recognize it from the movie Pulp Fiction, but it was also played as the second track at Lovechild 1979’s AW16 show at Copenhagen Fashion Week. And it sat the atmosphere just perfect.

Creative Director Anne-Dorthe Larsen explained the universe like this: “This collection is about transformation in more than one sense. It’s about going from adolescence to adulthood. The contrast between wanting to be daring and different – and on the other hand being comfortable in your own shell. Girls becoming women.”

Lovechild 1979 AW16’s collection showed beautiful lace dresses, feminine robes, ladylike lengths and sexy cut-out shoulders. Dressy pieces were counterparted by wollen uniform-like coats. Dark colors and heavy materials were mixed with lighter shapes and prints.

I loved how the collection captured the feelings and statements of the years, when you’re trying to figure out what kind of woman you’re becoming.

Some of the pieces from the collection (like the dress and set below) reminded me of the times, when I would gaze into the night as a teenager and wonder what the future would bring. It made me want to go back in time – just for a moment.

But then I also thought, how gorgeous these two designs would be at night time among friends and with a drink in my hand hihi.

VIA Design Graduate Show 2016 – creative, elegant and ready to wear

12 students were selected to present their final project in the VIA Design Graduate Show 2016 at Copenhagen Fashion Week. They were only 12, but their variation in concepts and creative ideas could easily have been connected to a larger number. And on top of that, they not only showed talent, but they also showed an ablity to turn their talent into beautiful and wearable clothes – something which Lina Rafn also noted in my previous post.

3 of the graduate students stood particularly out to me.

I will start with my absolute favorite, Maiken Bille from Mai Svanhvit – a fashion brand with roots in both Denmark and Iceland.  Svanhvit Sigurdardottir, from Iceland, is the other designer behind the brand.

Mai Svanhvit’s first collection is called ‘A Crevasse AW16’. It’s inspired by some nature’s most beautiful and rough features; hot springs, glaciers, volcanoes and the powerful Atlantic Ocean that smashes against cliffs and washes ashore on black lava beaches.

These elements are transformed, but apparent through Maiken and Svanhit’s choice of (natural) fabrics, cuts and colors, which come together in an extremely elegant collection.

It isn’t an overstatement to say that Kerstin Simon showed a completely different kind of collection. She kicked ass with her unisex collection ‘2035’.

In a way it reminded me of a sci-fi tv-series I used to watch as a teenager (is that embarrasing to admit? hehe), where the characters were rebellion and had to stand up for themselves. However, the details of Kerstin’s collection had obviously been given a lot more thoughts. To me, the geometrical lines in her design were just beautiful.

I loved the attitude of ‘2035’, which was stressed by the contrasts of high tech materials, sharp shapes and flowing  drapes, and balanced between femininity and masculinity.

The next three pictures show parts of Melissa Bredvig’s universe. The collection was inspired by Melissa’s personal Spotify playlist. From music, the shapes were brought to life and used in silhouttes, applications and colors.

I’m not exactly sure, what music is on the Melissa’s playlist, but to me there’s both pop, punk, jazz and rock’n’roll in the collection. I’m a huge fan of the strong blue color, the green fur, and the wide-leg pants. Plus, the shining tops with the high necks are really elegant.

5 quick questions for Lina Rafn

Lina Rafn knows her personal style. No matter whether you have seen her on stage as the lead singer of Infernal, as one of the Danish X Factor judges, or for a red carpet event, you can be sure that she has dressed whole-heartedly.

I ran into Lina a few times during Copenhagen Fashion Week, and every time she looked just stunning. That’s when I decided to ask her to be my next “victim” for ‘5 quick questions for…’, which catches up with people on the Danish and international fashion scene. And she was a darling to answer right away.

How will you describe your style?
My style is very diverse, but I always follow through on my looks. I never compromise. For stage it’s very full-out. It can be sporty or sexy or ravey; no matter the look, it’s done whole-heartedly.

In my everyday-wardrobe (for days in the studio, which is my workspace for writing music) I’m much more casual, and denim in whatever flavor is a key ingredient. I’ve been wearing a flared pair from Stella McCartney for almost a year now with everything from nice knits to pussybow-blouses, but I sense a change coming. Comfort is the key, when I’m in the studio.

For interviews and TV I prefer a grown-up look with a twist. More subtle than people would think. Lady-like shapes with modern details in print or cut. I try to dress with an edge, but only to the point where my clothes doesn’t prevent people from taking what I have to say seriously.

What do you go for, when it comes to your concert wardrobe?
For shows I love to play dress-up. I try to have the music, the clothes, the choreography and the scenography become parts of the same idea, story or mood. I am very playful in my shows, and I try to emphasize the vibe of the music through my choice in costumes. But often a look can inspire an interpretation of a song, so it is the clothes that shapes the music.

On stage you have to speak in capitol letters to be understood, and so the clothes don’t have small details. They often look a little over-the-top, when you see them up close. Last year we had a whole sequin sports-wear look in block colors. It looked amazing on stage.

What is the craziest outfit you have ever worn?
I have worn so many wild looks that I don’t know what to mention. Maybe the warrior-girl in black and orange was pretty out-there. Or the Nicholas Nybro-creation that we dubbed “the cake”? Or the one we called “sprechtall-meister on speed”?

What was your best experience at Copenhagen Fashion Week?
I had quite the moment, when BARBARA I GONGINI finished her show with a pas-des-deux that moved me to tears. That was brilliant. And though I can’t wear a lot of her clothes, I am still a big fan. The whole leave-me-alone-attitude that poors out of her clothes is very appealing to me. I just can’t pull it off.

But actually my best “clothes”-moment was at the VIA show. There was some real talent there, and for once the clothes seemed finished. Ready to produce and distribute. I wanted some of it. I’m sure there was an idea to every garment – a story, a vision that goes beyond the clothes, but for once the idea didn’t reduce the wearability, and for me that really matters. Fashion can be art. Sure. But in order for it to work as MORE than art, it has to be wearable. At least parts of it. And at VIA; it was.

(Highlights from the VIA show will soon be posted right here at IntoDetails.dk)

Where will we see you in the nearest future?
At the moment I’m hiding in our studio. We’re writing songs and producing music every day. Not for Infernal (our own band), but for other artists. But we’re getting to it soon, I think. We are sharpening our skills, until we feel ready to take on the task of creating “Infernal 2017”. We still don’t know what that’s going to sound like. And until we do, we’re going to stay hidden in our studio.

Henrik Vibskov AW16’s show – The Jaw Nuts Piece

Just 9 days before Copenhagen Fashion Week kicked off, it was announced that Henrik Vibskov would be presenting his AW16 collection at Copenhagen City Hall. The breaking news must have made most fashion enthusiasts in Copenhagen jump up from their chairs in excitement. To me, Copenhagen Fashion Week wouldn’t be the same without Henrik Vibskov’s universes. And I guess many feels the same, because on the night of the show, February 3rd, the city hall was completely packed.

The AW16 collection goes by the name ‘The Jaw Nuts Piece’, which was expressed at the show through hundreds of wooden heads, which jaws mechanically opened and closed – kind of like nutcrackers gone wild. This huge installation was the centrepiece of the catwalk. Here’s a close-up, and a picture of Henrik and the crew getting the installion ready for the show.

As for the clothes. Oh dear, there were so many pieces, which I still dream about. Let’s start with these two wonderful coats. Their two-length collars are quite original, and the length of their sleeves are both cute and elegant. While the first coat’s stripes are more classic, maybe even a little posh. The second one’s are just delightful. I love the combination of army green, marine blue, grey and baby pink!

With these next three sets, Henrik Vibskov is showing something he’s just extremely good at: Geometric and eye-catching patterns. And on top of that, the waist and length of the white, black and yellow skirt below is pretty chic.

The colorful cardigan and culottes on this next picture will probably take a bit more courage to wear. I would wear them seperately with something more downtoned. But damn, they’re also cool together.

This next cardigan is so sweet. Best of both worlds, dots and stripes. And the little detail with the one red stripe on the left arm keeps it together. Mixing it with the black pants makes the set very elegant. Also, notice the diagonal opening of the pants.

It’s simple. It’s sporty. It’s elegant. And it will probably also make you look slimmer. What’s not to like about this next set?

Thorning Astrup. Concrete as you’ve never seen it before

Maja Thorning and Niels Astrup – the partners behind Thorning Astrup – deliberately work with the imperfect. With their first line of jewellery they sought to break with the usual notion of how jewellery should look like. They wanted to make an exclusive line of jewellery that didn’t ‘bling’, and so they chose to work with raw and industrial materials.

Concrete was the starting point for experimenting with materials. But Maja and Niels soon found out that concrete falls short, when it comes to small items.

Niels explains it like this, “It was porous. The corners broke off, and it was too cold and hard against the skin. We tested many types of materials and improved the formula to a mixture that makes the products durable, attractive to touch and with just the right weight. The concrete look is then combined with materials such as silver, bamboo and copper, but without drowning the aesthetics of concrete itself.”

Thorning Astrup’s jewellery is always handmade – molded and sanded several times to achieve the perfect finish. They try to foster the natural imperfections in every product, so that no products are similar, but still maintain a tight and consistent design.

“The DNA of Thorning Astrup is the love for materials and the challenge of designing and combining unexpected variations of tradition and transcendence. We always design using only one detail,” Niels tells.

Maja and Niels started Thorning Astrup, because they had something to say and creativity to express. They describe themselves as curious, easy going and not afraid of challenging the conventional, while at the same time having respect for the history of the tools and crafts, they use. They support each other extremely well and never stop working.

They are slowly starting to develop their next collection of concrete jewellery, which they describe as a bit more daring, but still celebrating simplicity. Their goal is to develop Thorning Astrup towards more than jewellery.

I met Niels at Copenhagen Jewellery and Watch Show last summer, when my eyes fell on Thorning Astrups’s first collection consisting of variations of concrete cubes. Niels has since characterized the collection as Nordic, raw and minimalistic, which isn’t far from what I thought, when I saw the cube necklaces and earrings at the show. But I also thought that I hadn’t seen anything like this before, and that I wanted one of those necklaces for my next birthday. And guess what, it’s coming up hihi.

BARBARA I GONGINI’s AW16 show – avant garde fashion, art and ballet

Barbara í Gongini works in black and white  – mostly black. And she’s good at it. Instead of working with several colors or prints, she presents beautiful craftmanship and simplistic details as rarely seen.

The avant garde fashion brand BARBARA I GONGINI was founded in 2005. The core of the brand is freedom of self-expression and the strength of the individual. It takes a stand against sexual orientation or societal order. Moreover, the collections are designed with the aim of contributing to local and global responsibility.

The AW16 collection presented at Copenhagen Fashion Week last week showed just this and much more: strong geometric cuts mixed with soft silhouettes, timeless and minimalistic design, and clean (but sometimes extreme) details and accessories. Just beautiful!

I will let the pictures speak for themselves. But promise me to look good at the details, different textures and possibilities of how to wear these following pieces (of art).

Barbara í Gongini was born in the Faroe Islands and graduated in 1996 from Denmark´s School of Design at the Institute of Unica Design. She is an advocate for sustainable design, and she is an active participant in the Nordic art discourse. Barbara works in close collaboration with various artists in film, music and photography.

Her understanding for the arts was made clear by a magnificent piece of ballet right before the finale of the show. Two ballet dancers walked rythmically like graceful creatures into the middle of the catwalk and performed a dance of love and seduction. It was breathtaking, and it received a standing applause from the audience even before the finale of the show.

 

Lala Berlin’s AW16 show – urban attitude, elegant and surely sensual

Lala Berlin’s show at Copenhagen Fachion Week gave me the sense of touring Berlin in what felt like a blink of an eye, from the eclectic and somewhat dark underground to street life and modern simplicity.

The show was packed with urban attitude. Something, which designer Leyla Piedayesh stressed by styling the models with dark lips, caps, knitted hats or long loose hair. Just my kind of chic.

Leyla, who was born in Tehran in 1970 and studied business administration, has continued to show the world what urban cool is all about, ever since she presented at the first Lala Berlin collection at the SS07 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Berlin.

But back to her AW16 collection. Here are some of my favorites.

This first picture is pure coolness overload. The jacket, the knitted turtleneck, the two-lenght skirt and of course the knitted hat – a combination I will absolutely copy next fall.

Here’s another kick ass combiation. The pants and the leather vest are great contracts, and then the knitted sweater with the unicorn makes a cute statement. The unicorn was appearing on several of Leyla’s designs.

This next set I find super elegant, but again not without attitude because of the print.

I’ve never seen suits this cool. The first I would wear at work – or at a late night party with red lips and a bit of jewellery. The second I would wear at a business dinner or cocktail party. The third I would wear at any time posible, where there’s a chance of a disco tune in the background hehe.

How sensual is this next piece? Loving it. I would either wear it with a complety simple dress underneath or with a simple top and a pair of tight black pants.

The show ended with the models posing together. And after Leyla had bowed, it was possible for the guests at the show to take closer pictures of the models, who kept their attitude…

… or almost hihi.

AGURK. Prints, silhouettes and patchwork

Welcome to another universe. One of playful and experimental prints, silhouettes and patchwork. Welcome to the universe of AGURK – where feminine and streetwear elements are combined to tell individual stories.

“Silhouettes are an important part of a design. They can make one brand stand out compared to another. At AGURK we play a lot with silhouettes. Our designs are often oversized, either the top or bottom part, as we still want them to be useful and functional,” Vibbe Nygaard, one of the two designers behind AGURK, tells.

Regarding patchwork, Vibbe explains, “It’s a fascinating technique, because you create your own material. However, the main element of our collections is our print. It gives our collections their own individual stories and reflect important details in the silhouettes.”

The designers behind AGURK are two incredible talented girls, Camilla Kuus and Vibbe Nygaard, who met at the design school TEKO in Herning, Denmark.

“We soon became friends. Probably because Camilla is as cool as she is; the friend of everybody and a true adventurer. And I was creative, humorous and talkative. We quickly found a lot of common interests, and we figured out that we are very alike when it comes to setting up goals for ourselves and finding new challenges. We have ever since just had one common goal, AGURK,” Vibbe elaborates. “We have grown a lot as persons in the meantime, but our passion, humor and common understanding of our company make our everyday and AGURK into a fun game.”

Camilla and Vibbe have a huge passion for colorful and crooked designs, but both of their hearts also beat for entrepreneurship. The dream of creating something of their own was an ultimative goal from the beginning. Since then, they have acknowledged their individual competences, and today they compensate eachother. This gives them a lot of freedom and a natural position for each of them in AGURK.

So what about the name, AGURK. What does it mean, besides cucumber in Danish? I’m especially fond of this little story, I got from Vibbe.

“AGURK first came up in brainstorm as an unserious proposal for the name of our brand. But it grew on us, and all of a sudden we thought it consisted of everything that we are. We fell in love with the phrase ‘gå agurk’ [meaning to go crazy in Danish]. Like going crazy and loosing yourself in the development of a new innovative design. We also like having a humoristic approach to design and communication, and ‘AGURK’ is a good icebreaker for that.”

To try whether AGURK was a good name, Camilla and Vibbe created two all-over prints with cucumbers (agurker) for their first collection. They had simply bought a whole lot of cucumbers, which were spray painted, peeled and cut into different kinds of shapes. From these they made collages, which later became the final prints and a statement for AGURK, which could be used to tell the brand’s story.

Camilla and Vibbe’s inspiration for the AW15 ‘Tripping’ collection (two above pictures) came from the Sami people, an arctic population living in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The collection tells the story of the Sami ritual leaders, who went into another state of mind to visit forefathers and ask for guidance. The print is visualizing the trance by using Sami runes and drawings in a trance-like pattern. The primary colors are from the Sami flag and are also used in their traditional costume.

The upcoming SS16 collection takes inspiration from the famous Danish amusement park Tivoli.  The collection is called ‘Funfair’ and uses the traditional Tivoli characters: Harlekin, Pjerrot and Colombine.

With the ‘Funfair’ collection Camilla and Vibbe wanted to capture the atmosphere of Tivoli: a free space on a warm summer day; playful minds letting out their inner child. ‘Funfair’ takes you back to a place that let you loose your self-control. The muse for the print is an old-fashion slot machine, which pays winnings, when 3 or more wheels show a combination of symbols. This kind of machine builds on luck and an illusion to win. The dream of winning is often bigger than reality.

AGURK had me, and many others, convinced about their talent at Copenhagen Fashion Week last summer, where they presented their AW15 collection. Sinced then you have been able to find them at the hip store Project 4, which handpicks designs from Danish and international fashion brands, and at the designer market FINDERSKEEPERS among others. They will be back at Revolver Copenhagen International Fashion Trade Show as a part of next week’s fashion week – something I can’t wait for!

SophistoPhunk Jewelries. East meets west, nature meets urban living

The brothers Farhan and Qasam Ghulam have shared their passion for fashion, jewellery and architecture since childhood. Farhan has a background as a designer, while Qasam is actually a Surgeon. Together their work goes by the name SophistoPhunk Jewelries. A brand, which most certainly stood out, when I visited Copenhagen Jewellery and Watch Show two weeks ago.

SophistoPhunk Jewelries is a mixture of Scandinavian and Asian design. The jewelries embrace geometrical shapes as well as features of nature and urban living. Every piece of jewellery is unique and has a story attached to it. Therefore, it’s likely, you’ll find a piece, which will signify you.

The brothers’ passion for fine jewelries was brought to life in Copenhagen in 2012. “The mixture of being born in Denmark and having roots in western Asia, gave us the oppertunity to create something with a mindset from both cultures. This clash in design inspired us to combine the two worlds and create a new vision – ancient jewelries with an edge,” Farhan explains. “That’s also how our name was born. It’s a combination of Sophisticated and Phunky. Two opposites that meet each other and create beautiful art.”

But the name, SophistoPhunk, isn’t only a reflection of the brothers’ background. It’s also how Farhan would describe them as persons: “Qasam is more phunky in his way of living and personal style, but always in a elegant way. On the other hand I’m more simple and classic.”

The different pieces in SophistoPhunk’s collections all starts with an idea, a thought based on what Farhan and Qasam want to express through their jewellery. The thoughts can be inspired by things, like a single element of a larger kaligrafi, an industrial structure or a simple beautiful stone. An idea becomes a sketch, which becomes a 3D drawing and finally a wax prototype. However, often the brothers work with severeal prototypes before they agree on the final design.

So far you’ll find four collections by SophistoPhunk Jewelries: ‘Macramé’ with custom beads knotted with nylon, the glamorous and elegant ‘Riviera’, ‘Soleil’ with references to the cycle of the day; and ‘Mosaic’ – the newest collection representing the main DNA of SophistoPhunk, the mixture of west Asian and Scandinavian design.

You can read more about SophistoPhunk and buy their jewellery here.

Closed. Quality, comfort and Karen Blixen

The first time I was “introduced” to Bent Lee and Kristina Pasuna, from Closed, it was in an adorable article in Eurowoman (December 2014) about being both business partners, parents, lovers and best friends. The first time I actually met Bent and Kristina was at Copenhagen Fashion Fair last winter. While Kristina was talking to a buyer, Bent told me the story of Closed.

Since then I have wanted to do a small portrait of the brand. Here it finally is. Mixed with some gorgeous pictures from next year’s summer collection, which we can expect in stores from January 2016 – a terrible long time to wait 😉

Closed is one big family, which Riots Agency – established by Bent and Kristina – became a part of in 2011. The brand goes back to 1978. All its jeans are made in Italy. Closed supports the local Italian farmers, who produce the cotton, and it then cooperates with the family-driven company, Candiani, for the weaving, washing and sewing of the jeans. Every pair of jeans has had 20 pair of hands working on them, before they land in stores.

Today Closed is sold from more than 1.500 stores. Its head office is situated in Hamburg, Germany.

Closed works with four yearly collections. The summer 2016 collection is inspired by “Out of Africa”, and the nuances and silhouttes will surely make your thoughts wander of to safari trips. The spirit of Baroness and writer Karen Blixen is indeed very evident. She was strong and independent, and I think this collection speaks to this side in most women.

I love the mix of rough and feminine elements, especially the little twist with the thin leather belt bound around the waist with a knot.

Quality and comfort are two key words in Closed’s DNA. “We often experience interest from a wide group of people. With technical developments, as only a few European brands have been able to deliver, we talk to a young and fashion driven audience. However, at the same time, we know that our customers are recurring and very loyal to the branch,” Bent explains.

“Almost five years ago, we were at Riots Agency ask to do an assignment and given an offer by Closed. They wanted to do a more selective distribution, which Riots could help them with. It was a really long haul! But today we can proudly say that we are sold in some very high profile stores, just to mention Normann Copenhagen, Butik Zornig, FF2, Støy Munkholm and many other.”

When asked about the future, Bent answers, “At Closed we will always strive for high quality and innovative products that are designed 100 percent by ourselves. We are delighted by our customers, who also appreciate ‘slow fashion’ meaning that all products aren’t only used once. Unfortunately that has been the strategy of other low profile brands.”

The lovely couple themselves, Bent and Kristina…