WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FASHION INDUSTRY?

There’s a part of me that actively tries not to be part of the fashion industry. At the same time, there’s another part of me that really wants to be a part of the industry. It’s a love/hate relationship, but I often feel that my soul is slowly being sucked out of me in this industry. But what really is the fashion industry, really? I think a lot of people have an idea of what it is, but in reality, it’s something completely different. At least the part I’m in, where it’s emerging designers, young people who are convincing themselves that they’re trying to do something different. 

It’s also an industry that seems to lack a shared mission. I mean, a real mission. Not just the kind of mission you write in a press release. Take “sustainability,” for example. It’s become a buzzword that often means nothing. Is something sustainable just because it’s labeled that way? Maybe real sustainability is about making products people actually value. And I think that’s the crazy thing. This huge divide within the industry. From the outside, people think it’s all one big unified space. But it’s not. And maybe that’s part of the problem: there’s no united front. But also I don’t think it’s fair to expect designers to be that front. It’s too big a task. It needs to be handled on a political, economic, and structural level by the bigger players, by governments, by companies like Bestseller for instance. They’re the ones with the resources to drive that kind of shift.

I hear myself say “fashion industry” all the time, but I’m not even sure what it means anymore. And I think a lot of people feel the same way. Everyone seems to have their own version of what it is, and their own vision of what it should be. The people I surround myself with, the ones I collaborate with, tend to be more idealistic. Sometimes maybe too idealistic. The capitalist side of things can be completely missing. But on the flip side, the fully capitalist part of the industry is often only realistic. It’s all or nothing. So again, as a designer, you’re stuck in the middle. You want to do meaningful work, but you also need to make a living. That’s where real support is needed—financial, political, and cultural. Because right now, designers are expected to do everything with very little in return. On a societal level, that’s a real problem. I genuinely believe a lot of, for instance, environmental issues could be addressed by supporting designers and artists. Especially for the younger generation of designers. It’s not like we don’t want to change things. We really do. But we need support. From the bigger players, yes, but also from consumers. Consumers shape the industry, too. And here in Denmark, we’re honestly pretty bad at spending our money on clothes in a meaningful way. It’s just more, more, more. I have Italian friends with almost no money, but they’ll buy one really good piece a year and take care of it. They’ll fix it if it breaks, or ask their mom or grandmother to do it. It’s a different mindset.

WHERE DOES YOUR INSPIRATION COME FROM?

All over the place. It can get pretty messy. I’ve got these sketchbooks, mile-long lines of pages, just packed with ideas and concepts. Of course, there are things I revisit again and again but I think what really drives me is the idea of exploring new contexts. Like starting with a cheap material and trying to make it look expensive or taking something seen as trashy and placing it in a couture context. Maybe using a refined technique or pushing the scale to turn it into something completely different. That kind of transformation is a huge part of what excites me.  And I guess in a way, that process itself becomes the inspiration.

I’m trying to get better at tracking my inspiration and being more clear about what the actual starting point was. Often there’s so much value and information in that, at least for the viewer and receiver. Like, what sparked the whole thing? Why this project? Why this material? What was it really about? Because sometimes you’ve done a million things and never asked yourself: why?

That being said, I believe you don’t need to reveal everything. Some designers, artists, chefs or whatever explain too much, and it kind of kills the magic. Sometimes it’s more powerful to leave space for interpretation. To let people see what they want in it. To let it create some kind of wonder. Like when we made that metal dress. People would ask, “Why?” And that “why” often leads to the most interesting conversations. Suddenly people start reflecting on what fashion even is. Someone might say, “Wait, fashion isn’t just about what we wear every day, there’s also production, labor, craft.” Or: “You spent months making a metal dress? That’s wild.” 

The idea of standing on a chair and saying, “This is what you’ll be wearing this season”. That’s not me. The people who inspire me are more mysterious. They don’t give you answers; they give you space to read your own meaning into things.

And sure, of course, there are the classics Alexander McQueen, Galliano, Tom Ford. But honestly, my friends inspire me the most. The people around me, weird friends doing weird things. People who move differently through the world, not in a “screw everything” way, but just with their own rhythm. That has always been a never-ending source of inspiration for me.