Aug 9

Aug 9 Nicklas Skovgaard Debuts at Copenhagen Fashion Week

Copenhagen Fashion Week, Fashion News, Fashion Show

Each year Copenhagen Fashion Week draws more eyes from the International stage. What was once considered the underdog of fashion week is steadily making its rise to an unmissable event in the fashion calendar. In recent years especially, we’ve seen an explosion of Nordic brands becoming fashion mainstays. This season marks the third Copenhagen Fashion Week after the introduction of the New Talent initiative, the project was established to “nurture, develop, and promote emerging Nordic talent on a global scale.” One of the Spring 2024 candidates for the scheme is Nicklas Skovgaard who made his Fashion Week debut yesterday.

The young Danish designer has attracted attention since he started posting his one of a kind designs on Instagram in 2020. After buying himself a loom in a second hand store, the designer began creating his own fabrics that he turned into garments, starting his own label almost by accident after previously working in the interiors industry.

Known for his unique creations, the designer kicked off his Fashion Week career with a bang. Forgoing the traditional runway, Skovgaard instead opted for a more unorthodox program. Utterly theatrical in feeling, the show opened to curtains being drawn back to reveal a series of mannequins dressed in his latest designs. His collaborator for the project, Dutch performance artist Britt Liberg, then proceeded to dress herself in various outfits taken off of a rail placed in the warehouse. Adopting the personality of each garment, Liberg waltzed around the stage, twirling and posing for the audience, replicating the over the top gestures of the mannequins around her as her father played the harpsichord in the background. Discarding the worn garments on the floor, her performance continued until the curtains were once again pulled around the warehouse space, leaving a small opening for Liberg to emerge wearing her final look - a white over the top number influenced by Cecil Beaton’s costumes for My Fair Lady.

This ‘one woman show’ was a daring choice for an emerging designer, but one that certainly paid off. The performance brought the designs to life, encouraging the audience to interact with each piece, bringing them out of being just a passive viewer.

The collection featured plenty of Skovgaard’s signature silhouettes, the pouffed, almost balloon like skirts, and dropped waistlines that feel reminiscent of vintage styles. Blending his own handcrafted fabrics made on his antique loom, with water repellent fabrics creating stark contrast within the fabrication of the hand made garments.

The show was not only an ingenious way to reveal his collection, but felt like a joyous celebration to the art of dressing up, proving that Skovgaard is truly a designer to watch for future seasons to come.