Among the several Central Saint Martins graduates showing at CPHFW, Henrik Vibskov is the most established; he recently celebrated 20 years of showing in Paris. Chin chin!
Asked how fashion in Copenhagen has changed over time, Vibskov recalled being invited to represent Denmark at a fair in South Africa, and how his colorful, printed designs stood out among the minimalism and sleekness elsewhere. Today, riotous color, pattern, eccentricity, and individualism—all pillars of Vibskov’s work—have come to define CPH style, and his shows continue to be a big draw. You won’t find models doing the old up-and-down here. Vibskov isn’t a linear thinker, a fact clearly evident in the performance piece he staged for his new collection, which he called the Unboxing Waltz Tutorial.
You might say that the lineup and show ping-ponged from the word box. “We started looking into how in the mind we categorize things constantly. We measure things, we systemize things, and put things in boxes,” the designer said. From there, team Vibs (as they call themselves) jumped to the unboxing phenomenon and the idea of moving boxes, both the objects and the idea of transit. To this maze of ideas Vibskov added the sport of boxing, hence the boxing ring that was set up in the courtyard of the Design Museum, which was majestically presided over by MC Jahmarl Crick, aka KyleLondonnn, whose freestyle lyrics were interspersed with classical waltz music.
No proponent of violence, Vibskov focused on the peacocking presentation of fighters circling each other in the ring, which the models mimicked. He also deconstructed boxing gloves, being particularly intrigued with their padding and lacing. Double gloves were transformed into rustic looking hats that might have been pulled from a Bruegel painting. Shoes had padded ankle wraps. There were also flat pieces that read as soft armor, and a few somewhat clunky lace-up ensembles.
A sense of medieval pageantry was created by the staging which included a group of standard bearers who supported a circular pennant hung on sticks, which was lowered over the model once they were in position, creating an orange frame around them. These circles provided a contrast to the box-inspired geometries that were represented in various ways. A classic check material was cut open, deconstructed, and fringed, while rints were inspired by patterns for boxes, and the ovoid handles on a cream jacket were pulled from a standard moving box. Outerwear and tailoring are always strong at Vibskov; this season the checked pieces were standouts, but much of the newness in his collections is created by fabrics and prints, and it would be nice to see more focus on new silhouettes.
Bird patterned sweaters and spiral earrings with avians (made in collaboration with jeweler Vibe Harsløf) referred back to knits that read “Out for Delivery.” The idea, said Vibskov, was the act of being knocked out (think of cartoons with the characters having birds flying around their heads). Over 20-plus years Vibskov has set the course of Danish fashion and built a viable business without ever losing his sense of play.
