Back in the ’70s and ’80s when acts like David Bowie or the Rolling Stones played in Copenhagen they stayed at the Plaza Hotel, and frequented its Library Bar, which has been resistant to change. “It’s dark and cozy in a really good way,” said designer Ulrik Pedersen on a preview call. It was in this Ralph Lauren-like atmosphere of dark wood hung with old oil portraits that Sunflower presented its fall collection to the live accompaniment of artists Soho Rezanejad (vocals) and August Rosenbaum (piano).
This was the first winter show Pedersen and co-founder Alan Blond have presented in their hometown, and hopefully it won’t be the last because Sunflower’s it factor is undeniable. In Pedersen’s hands a corduroy suit with elbow patches doesn’t read academic, but groovy. Equally, denim that nodded to young Bruce Springsteen’s favorite 501s escaped being corny.
Pedersen’s idea of the high/low mix is to “have your jeans with a suit jacket or your coat with a pair of nice jeans.” For fall he brought the shoulders in and cut silhouettes closer to the body. The mood, said Blond, was “more grown up.” The show opened with a shearling zip-front jacket, black washed jeans worn with a turtleneck in a picklish kind of green. A tobacco-colored Prince of Wales suit was shown not with a button-down, but a pink V-neck sweater. The changes Pedersen makes are incremental enough to add newness without crossing into trendiness. “Instead of all this fast fashion, we need to go back to where people . . . just buy good genuine clothes you would like to wear and maybe take a break from wearing and then start wearing again after a few seasons,” Pedersen said. “So for us doing this more classic menswear really feels super up-to-date now.” It looked that way too.
