Copenhagen Fashion Week AW 2013
1 - 7 February 2013
FRANZISKA BORK PETERSEN Do designers live past 40? Henrik Vibskov speaks out about the Danes, the French and being happy where you are right now
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Denmark’s designer for all seasons
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S THE ONLY Scandinavian designer whose menswear collections are included in the official schedule at Paris Fashion Week, Henrik Vibskov has secured his reputation in the fashion world. But should the 40-year-old ever decide he’s had enough, he’s got other talents he could fall back on, including as a drummer for musician Trentmøller and set designer. The Copenhagen Post managed to catch up with him in the midst of preparations for his CFW show to talk about his work and the differences between national fashion scenes. CP: People often write about you as a bridge-builder between fashion and art. What do you think of that – both the distinction between the two and the fact that you are labelled as such? HV: I don’t think too much about that. I know that the way we work is very similar to what you might do in film or in architecture: it’s a similar research foundation. The crossover between disciplines I see more as a matter of taste. CP: You once said that you are personally more interested in men’s design. Is this still the case? HV: My studies focused on menswear and of course I have a passion for that. And if you zoom in on the details in womenswear you’ll find a lot of references to menswear. But in womenswear you can perhaps change the silhouette more and the designs are sometimes better at focusing on fabrics than men’s. I have assistants for creat-
Vibskov (far right) has boutiques in Copenhagen, Oslo and New York, but the clientele – and their habits – vary significantly
ing the men’s and the women’s collections. It’s ultimately me who has to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but I am not doing all of this on my own. With production, but also with things like accounting etc, there are people helping me. CP: You have expressed admiration for the British tailoring craft and that it has an impact on your work as a fashion designer. How about French fashion? HV: French fashion and the culture around it are a big part of the fashion scene, but they are especially important for us up here in Scandinavia. We just don’t have a fashion history in the same way. Take Denmark: it’s a small country and our background is mainly in farming and fishing. We’re just slowly beginning to develop a tradition for clothing design. As a small country we have to look abroad; we have to be aware of what’s going on. CP: What does it mean to you personally to be chosen as a member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Mode Masculine? HV: First, I was not really exact-
ly sure what was going on. But the same year, Martin Margiela was also appointed as a member, and he has really been around in fashion for years. So that made me think: Wow! The Chambre is like a roundtable of important people who have things to say and have a certain power. So, sure it’s great to be a member, but it is also a very old-school thing – to be part of it you need to have a ‘godfather’ to support you, for example. I got a lot of congratulations from people from all over the world for having been chosen as a member – but sometimes I am still not entirely sure what exactly this association is and what being part of it means. I am the first Scandinavian in it, and there are people in the Chambre who can help me – which is of course good. I think most of the brands in it have something that they are really good at. Compared with the other members we are just a very, very small company, and that makes a big difference. I’ve heard that there are 250 people backstage for a Dior show [the fashion house Dior is also a member
of the Chambre Syndicale de la Mode Masculine]. And there are maybe six or ten people working backstage at our shows, plus the models. CP: In an industry that is as international as fashion, is there anything identifiable as specifically Danish? HV: We tend to focus on functionality up here and don’t do so many gala dresses and haute couture. What we are really good at is a more basic casualwear. There is the idea of a certain Danish ‘clean’ style, but I think ‘Danish design’ is a term that can easily create a lot of confusion. Personally, I am born here and grew up with a ‘70s aesthetic. But if you look at what I am doing, I am not really sure I should go as ‘Danish design’. Maybe that’s because I studied internationally – I am using way too many colours for being a real Danish ‘black-greybeige’ designer. CP: You have shops in Copenhagen, Oslo and New York. Are you aware of any items that go well in one place but not others? HV: Absolutely. There is a big
difference between the cultures – and also the markets. Generally, we are selling much more menswear in New York than we do here. In New York, anything that is more colourful, decorated, twisted, diffused or weirder works much better; the wilder and more screaming pieces go well. New York is a bigger city, so people need to scream more. It’s also a metropolis that attracts people who are more experimental: musicians and other artists. We have pretty wild types dropping by in the New York store. In comparison, Copenhagen is definitely more basic. In Scandinavia it is more like: ‘if someone picks it up, then everybody picks it up.’ If you look at how we live as Scandinavians or Danes it’s very similar – and it’s also pretty similar to what we wear. In the beginning of my design years, and you could say that’s what created the brand, I was selling a lot of the same trousers – and only them. They had become a more general trend. Later, everybody was suddenly buying my scarves – mostly the same colour. I think it’s really
Nation’s love affair with fur a matter of heated debate RAY WEAVER The Danish fur industry’s animal welfare standards may exceed EU requirements, but animal rights groups maintain that using fur in fashion is fundamentally flawed
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OR VISITORS to Denmark, the sight of fur – be it Danish-bred mink or wild Greenlandic seal – may come as a surprise, considering that international resistance to its use has mounted in recent decades. But consider that Danish fur farmers are the world’s largest producers of mink skins, and that Danish mink skins have a reputation as the most expensive on the market, and you may have part of your explanation. Each year, 2,000 Danish fur farmers – most of whom are members of the Danish Fur
Breeders Association – produce 14 million mink pelts along with a small number of fox, chinchilla and rabbit pelts. To get an idea of the importance of the exports, mink pelts represent one third of the total Danish exports to China and Hong Kong, and over 6,000 Danes work in the industry. Add to that Denmark’s ties to Greenland, with its cultural links to seal hunting, and you have all the elements for the making of a culture that is less affected by fur’s dwindling international appeal. Of course, any industry based on raising animals for human exploitation is bound to have its share of detractors. Danish mink farmers and their association Kopenhagen Fur, the world’s largest fur auction house, say they do everything they can to ensure that the animals are raised in comfortable conditions and killed humanely. Denmark’s rules on mink welfare
are established through a co-operative effort between Kopenhagen Fur and the Danish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the Danish rules are stricter than European standards require. All Danish mink farms are subject to annual veterinarian visits to conduct routine inspections to identify any health or welfare problems. If Kopenhagen Fur learns that a farm is acting illegally, they assess whether the farmer is violating the law and report those violations to the relevant authorities. Joh Vinding, a spokesperson for the animal welfare group Anima, was unimpressed by the industry’s claims that their animals are treated humanely. “Minks are wild animals,” he said. “In the wild, they have a ranging area of one to two kilometres. On a fur farm, they live in a one quarter square metre cage.”
Vinding pointed out that although a farm may pass inspection under the established guidelines, minks could still be covered with bite marks and other damage brought on by keeping what he called “solitary” animals in crowded conditions. “The biggest market for Danish minks is China, and the Chinese government regularly blocks websites that show animal cruelty – including ours – so the Chinese may not even be aware of the problem.” Vinding wants Denmark to join the Netherlands in banning mink farming all together. He pointed to a 2009 survey that revealed that the majority of Danes think that mink production should be halted. “It speaks to the kind of people we wish to be,” he said. “Do we tolerate suffering for what is essentially a frivolous luxury product?”
Denmark’s Tivoli has another view of the matter. As part of a three-year multi-million kroner deal, the central Copenhagen amusement park partnered with Kopenhagen Fur last year to make it the official partner of the park’s ‘Christmas in Tivoli’ celebration. Torben Plank, Tivoli’s spokesperson, said the amusement park knew the decision would spark a heated debate but in the end, a Facebook forum debate became so heated that Facebook took down the comments. In addition, a few hundred demonstrators appeared at the park during the opening of the 2012 Christmas season. As for the success of the deal itself, Plank said it was hard to say whether the display had resulted in increased fur sales, but that both vendors and park guests seemed satisfied.
good that we have Christiania [alternative commune] here – strangeness and Rasta dudes, right there in the middle of Copenhagen’s strict style. CP: Finally, in an interview between you and Belgian designer Walter van Beirendonck a few years ago you said you’d continue with fashion until you’re 40. HV: (Laughs) Right … that’s now. An old professor of mine used to say you’re not shit until you’ve done ten collections. So after ten collections I wondered: do I just continue with this or what’s next? Work in a bank? Or perhaps in a kindergarten? And I realised: I am doing music, I’m doing some arty stuff, I’m doing the fashion – I was actually feeling pretty alright. I’m having a good time. So I thought maybe I should just continue. Well … of course, I can’t do it forever.
Factfile | A fur giant Kopenhagen Fur is the world’s largest fur auction houses and the global hub for the fur trade. Along with selling the 14 million Danish mink pelts, it sells around 7 million mink pelts from other countries each year. Its five annual auctions attract as many as 500 buyers from around the world, and the bids at the auctions set the world market price for mink. Kopenhagen Fur, through its in-house design agency Kopenhagen Studio, works with designers in other countries to create fur fashions that can be haute couture, prêt-aporter and even every day street fashions.