The Designskolen Kolding in the Danish city of Kolding was established in 1967 and became one of the major design schools in the Nordic Region. The Graduates of Designskolen Kolding 2017 presented their graduate projects during Copenhagen Fashion Week to an international audience of buyers, designers, and journalists.
Alix Habran Jensen – The Metal Spoon
“the metal spoon” by Alix Habran Jensen is inspired by forced marriage and freedom versus restriction on the female body. He wanted to tell the stories of women and girls of forced marriage through his garments. His collection is named “the metal spoon” based on a story he was told in his interviews. In order to prevent forced marriages, women and girls would have metal spoons hidden in their underwear. Upon the detection of it at airport securities, they would have the possibility to ask for help and to escape their situation. Both his visual storytelling in the photographs and the works of his garments reflect the stories of the women and girls he interviewed and talked to.
Marie Due & Karoline Heide
In times of the rise of sustainable fashion, the design duo Marie Due and Karoline Heide created a collection by using second-hand garments with the bricolage method. Re-using and extending the lifetime of different objects has been around in fashion for quite some time already, and with their graduation project, the design duo showed a way of incorporating it in customer oriented and creative design.
Michelle Brandstrup
Minimalism. Maybe one of the biggest trends since the mid 2000th and almost synonymous with Scandinavian Fashion. DSK graduate Michelle Brandstrup created a collection that focused on durability and multiple suitability. Referring to both formal and casual wear, her creations can be used and styled for different occasions. Given the new buying trends of today’s young generations, she proved her eye for customer orientation as much as for design.
Oliver Oppermann
Inspired by loneliness, Oliver Oppermann focused on one of the biggest problems of today’s youth and Danish teenagers. Working with the three concepts of modern living, loneliness and social media, he used his designs to refer to today’s social issues.
Sarah Sølver – G-fluid
Playing with the perception of masculinity and femininity, Sarah Sølver‘s collection G-fluid focuses on the trend of gender fluidity and the exposure of feminine men in fashion design. Looking at the designs both in emerging markets like Copenhagen and big fairs like London Fashion Week, the topic of gender, gender fluidity and the role of gender in the society has grown rapidly. With her collection, she created a wardrobe for people that do not want to identify their gender through clothes and gives them a comfortable way of expressing their sense of fashion outside of the idea of gender references in fashion.
Sofie Pacdezki
Another take of the construct of gender is the one of Sofie Pacdezki. She explored a more nuanced feminine aesthetic based on Sofia Copolla’s film “The Virgin Suicides”. With her collection, she questions the reaction of society on classic feminine aesthetics and criticises the objectification of women.
Sofie Bundgaard Holst
The monochrome color palette of the Danish island Mors mirrors in the collection of Sofie Bundgaard Holst. Inspired by the artist Eric Heide, her heritage and workwear details she created a collection that merges workwear, casual wear, and formal wear.
