“After lockdown number one in Copenhagen last year, when we got back into the studio, I drew a line through the calendar. With my team we spent a month with the fabrics, making everything by hand, experimenting and playing – not even thinking about the final pieces. It became super important to me how the fabrics felt against the skin – the texture and touch. Our lives are so digital and distant in this moment, I wanted the fabrics to be a contrast. When you put on a piece from the collection, I want you to feel the beauty of the fabric, to be comforted by it. This sense of comfort is my idea of luxury.
After this month in the studio we had a creative challenge, to sit down, to edit and create a collection that felt coherent. I wanted it to be the most beautiful collection we’ve done – every detail, every silhouette, the fabrics, all of it to have the touch of the hand. I wanted the wearer to feel our passion for our craft in every piece.
I was drawn to the beauty of an empty city – with an imposing and industrial feel. In a very natural way, the mood and the storyboards for the film became the inspiration for the colours and mood of the designs. I collaborated with my close friends at Moon to help bring this vision to life. Connection... linking arms... being together... a journey... these things are dear to me.” - Cecilie Bahnsen, Creative Director
For Fall/Winter 2021, there was no moodboard pinned up in Cecilie Bahnsen’s studio in Copenhagen. Instead her small team spent a month surrounded by the haute couture fabrics that have become synonymous with the label: quilted silks, floral fil-coupé, pleated organza and matelassé that falls on the body like the softest paper, light yet voluminous. Creating and developing new silhouettes and details on the stand.
The result is an intimate-feeling collection that also expands the lexicon of the brand. Cecilie continues to explore more form-fitting silhouettes, with belts and elaborate sashes reminiscent of the Japanese obi. New for this season Cecilie evolves her approach to layers. Whereas in the past she layered separates one over the other, with this collection the layers are merged into a single item of clothing. So, a soft black mohair jumper supports a voluminous dress in black fil coupé wool – embroidered with clusters of floral beads like flickering lights..
The storyboards for the film inspired the colours and the mood of the collection, they were a composition of imagery from past projects that Cecilie had a strong connection with, such as the book project Tokyo Trance and the SS20 runway show on the pier in Copenhagen. With the City as a turning point, we imagined the girls on a journey through the city ́s dark flickering nights into a soft morning light.
The collection is told in four colour stories, mirroring the four chapters of the film Cecilie has produced for Paris Fashion Week. The palette weaves through greys, blacks and blues to pale lemon with glistens of orange embroidery – moving out of the darkness into light. In a new model of delivery, the collection will be made available in four drops, spread through the season by colour.
Cecilie has doubled down on outerwear for Fall/Winter. Her ongoing collaboration with Mackintosh continues with coats in shades inspired by the Nordic winter light. Cecilie has reworked the traditional anorak into a romantic silhouette with billowing sleeves and adds a detachable fil-coupe bib-style detail. The coat is available in Mackintosh’s trademark bonded cotton and her own romantic quilted faille.
In her second partnership with the Spanish footwear label Hereu – a relationship built on a shared passion for craftsmanship – Cecilie has created four styles of shoe. The stompy cushiony rubber-soled loafer is the perfect foil for the collection, weighing down the romance and femininity. Hand-made tinted glass embellishments by Cecilie’s friend, the artist Nina Nørgaard, add eye-catching detail.
Cecilie presented the film “The City” on the Paris Fashion Week official calendar, Monday 1st March, 6pm CET, produced in collaboration with Moon and the artist-illustrator Yann Le Bec. The music is courtesy of another friend, the composer August Rosenbaum.
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