Henrik Vibskov (Q4268)
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Henrik Vibskov is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Henrik Vibskov |
Henrik Vibskov is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
In a large dark venue in Christiania, Henrik Vibskov reprised The Orchestra of the Soft Assistance, having first presented the collection in Milan during the menswear week. More than a show, it was a performance—as is Vibskov’s wont. This designer is a multi-faceted artist with his hands in many pies: music, theater, and fashion.Speaking of hands, all around the stage, large-sized red digitally-printed appendages were suspended from the ceiling alongside red ropes and padded black belts. At the start of the proceedings white-suited helpers appeared, slipped on the belts and started controlling the hands as if they were marionettes. Caught in the hands were pieces of white drapery which rose and dipped like waves as the ropes were pulled tight and then went slack. Hands were a motif used often by the surrealists; here they didn’t feel like implements of pleasure or pain but helpful tools. Though the landscape they created was unpredictable in its undulations, it was also a soft, dream-like one.Fluidity was a theme; it was present in the dance of the drapes and curved cuts, yet the overall effect of the collection was not harmonious, in part because of the variety and type of patterns, but also, perhaps, because of the state of things, to which Vibskov is sensitive. “Looking at the world and how it is, I think it’s just crazy,” he said after the show. “I think we need to help each other and give hands and assist.”Textile design is at the heart of the designer’s practice and the ones developed for spring were sometimes challenging in their complexity and boldness. The dissolving black and yellow check is certainly not for shrinking violets. Amazing in its intricacy was another soft-colored check on cream overlaid with sea life, including octopi, whose ability to be of help eight times over was an inspiration, according to the show notes. Pants in this material paired with a striped sweater definitely had wow factor.After several seasons of relative stasis on the women’s side, change arrived here beautifully. Pants were cut so that the outer seams were curved, creating a stunning silhouette. Sheer printed blouses featuring sleeves with 2D-looking scallops (inspired by the shape made when you interlock your fingers) were an example of many hands making light work.
7 August 2024
The size and energy of the crowd at Henrik Vibskov’s show was like that at a concert. He’s the OG of the Copenhagen scene, a man who has always gone his own way, and who regularly applies his creative mind to projects outside of fashion. At the end of last year the new King and Queen (then the Crown Prince couple) presented him with the Kronprinsparrets Priserculture awardfor being “a shining example of a designer who masters a variety of disciplines and dares to challenge them.”His fall show was a good demonstration of that. Vibskov has created inflatable costumes for a performance of Flammenwerfer (Flame Thrower) in Malmö this spring, and dancers wearing them appeared on a set consisting of doors with round windows from which were pulled long drapes of pink fabric, putting the title of the collection, The Daily Chewing Gum Therapy Session, into context.The contextual framework for the season was arrived at during a company meeting at which the topic under discussion was dream work scenarios. One of the suggestions was daily therapy sessions. “I think everything at the moment is super fragile,” the designer related, and one reaction to that is therapy of all sorts; using light, working with animals, playing games, handicraft. In Vibskov’s case it is chewing nicotine gum. “Is it addiction, or is it therapy?” he wondered aloud.For fall Vibskov remains hooked on some familiar silhouettes. As usual, his fabrics changed more than his basic shapes. Also as usual, his fabrics were carefully developed; some, like a chess game jacquard, were inspired by the theme. Vibskov cuts a great coat and jacket and those in a heavy houndstooth grid were notable. Flannel-like plaids had an outdoorsy-meets-cozy vibe, though knits were on the tame side. Womenswear is a more static category at the brand, so it was nice to see some experimentation with square-ish jackets inspired by paper folding. The contrast of sheer prints over solids was best on the final dress, which shimmered as the model walked.While some exploration of silhouette would be welcome, the experience of a Vibskov show, and the takeaways, are always bigger than fashion. The designer is tuned into the state of the world and offers ideas, empathy, and fantasy as antidotes. Is fashion one too? “During the pandemic and after we’ve seen an explosion of creativity, people sitting at home doing stuff. Is it therapy? Maybe,” he mused.
“The world’s so fragile, and it’s like, what can you do? You don’t really know, but individual needs are much easier to tackle. So you think, ‘Okay, I can’t do anything about the world or the environment and wars and people, but maybe I can take the smallest step, and that’s to work a bit with yourself.”The way forward, Vibskov seems to be suggesting, is to go your own way and take care of yourself, and one way to do that, of course, is to dress to feel your best.
31 January 2024
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.
10 August 2023
Henrik Vibskov, the Danish designer who has been serving up art, music, and fashion for more that 20 years, is a sartorial foodie. Sausages, apple pie, and gelatin are among the foodstuffs that have appeared in his collections and films over the years. Having become fascinated with all things related to tomatoes, he headed back into the kitchen for fall. The designer explained that he likes his clothes to be a reflection on how we work, how we live, and that food and liquid hydration are essential to our survival.What had the designer seeing red, as it were, was noticing many abandoned greenhouses, the casualties, perhaps, of global warming. In his own wonderful way, Vibskov went about imaginatively setting them right and filling them with pommes d’amour, or love apples, (so named because of their supposed aphrodisiac aspects). When it came to visualizing the theme, Vibksov said he wanted to take a relatively subtle approach, aside from one print inspired by vintage tomato can graphics.Red and green were the main colors of the collection, but the pattern on the fringed material used for the long blazer that opened the show was abstracted, as were the tone-on-tone “shadow” tomatoes woven into a plaid. Some shoes had heels that looked like upside-down planting pots, and models wore headbands that evoked strings of cherry tomatoes. Gingham-trimmed trench coats and jackets, which were among the hero pieces, extended the theme by referencing picnic blankets and tablecloths. Texture was an important element as well; and took the form of Vibskov’s signature pleating, a spiky variant of a popcorn knit, and a charming checkerboard material with squares that were alternatively piled and clipped.There was nothing flat about the show, however, with its attendants raising and lowering tomato trees. Vibskov’s intent was to create a “strong, dreamy world” that was also “weird s[and] surreal.” This is his happy place. The fall collection was christened Long Fingers To Ma Toes—get it?—and some models wore gloves stuffed to extend the fingers to alien-like lengths. Vibskov is an intellectual guy, but not everything needs to be deep; “I also really like garlic gazpacho,” he said.
2 February 2023
It seems fair to call Henrik Vibskov the patron saint of Copenhagen fashion, as he set a template many are following — consciously or not. For one, he’s a multimedia artist; fashion is just one expression of his creativity. And he’s carved his own path in the industry; after graduating from Central Saint Martins and starting his own line in 2001, he found there was no room for his colorful avant-garde designs in existing shops, so he opened one himself.You can always expect the unexpected from Vibskov. This season it was a set filled with small bridges and a finale featuring a women’s choir dressed in black with white safety vests and life preservers, who looked like adventurous nuns and had the voices of angels. Lately the world feels like it’s on the edge of a precipice.Vibskov took bridges as the theme for spring; they’re “something that we as mankind have made for a shortcut,” he explained. (The environmental crisis proved the adage that there are no shortcuts in life.) “[A bridge] is also a place where we interfere with nature,” Vibskov continued. “You could say we are taking over the birds’ route”—hence the show’s title, Bird in the Face, which appeared on intarsia sweaters. There were bird patterns too, some of them more liberal than others. The bridge theme was also evident in arch-shaped sleeve treatments, which were especially lovely on plisse dresses.There were some oddities in the collection, a group of pieces in a sheer dotted fabric with roundish appliques didn’t reach flying altitude, but the suits and outerwear made in a double sided fabric with exposed seams that will fray with wear, soared.
12 August 2022
Billionaires aren’t the only ones obsessed with outer space. Henrik Vibskov has thoughts on the last frontier as well, and he presented some of them in a fall collection that featured lunar prints, “moon shoes,” and futuristic popcorn knits. Even with all that, he escaped feeling Space Age-y. Perhaps that’s because the designer was just in orbit, as it were, for a visit, and spent most of his time looking down at this “blue marble” and remembering its sounds and smells.The collection is titled Biblioteca of Micro Selves because the team was thinking about memory and “future archiving,” and asking themselves questions like “which belonging would you bring, if you were traveling to space or to your graveyard?” Taking things one step further, the staff made those selections, which were vacuum-packed and suspended on lit poles to form the show set. (Vibskov’s choice was a box of his baby teeth.)Fashion itself is a kind of time capsule, both on a personal and a popular level: We recognize an era through pictures of clothes; cherished garments that no longer leave the closet hold memories of who we once were. Vibskov’s collection wasn’t vintagey, but it was about preservation in a roundabout way. Note the many “life vests,” based on objects used to save people. Protection remains a topical theme in a world of pandemics, recession, and threats of war. Happily, Vibskov skipped the apocalyptic vibes; this was an upbeat and experimental collection that showed his chops as a designer.The opening suit featured origami-like pockets attached to a harness that tied gently around the body, and there were many interesting structured sleeves. With fluffy plaid pieces, and with khaki, Vibskov offered his take on the popular woodsy/outdoor theme; tamer pieces included well-cut coats and his signature intarsia knits. Not all of the looks will suit most earthlings; the protective and quilted pieces were quite bulky, for example. That matters less in the grand scheme of things than the fact that Vibskov has created his own distinct universe that orbits the worlds of art, music, and fashion in a way that feels especially relevant now as barriers and binaries give way to more fluid ways of existing on earth.
3 February 2022
Henrik Vibskov could be described as the pied piper of Danish fashion. The designer, who recently celebrated 20 years in fashion, frequently lures his audiences to unexpected locations; this season it was an old hot-air-balloon hangar with a sandy floor. On one end was a creature who was bald, dressed in pink, and at least three times the height of the very tall designer. During the proceedings, the character raised itself up and started dancing while an octopus array of arms extended from the fabric near the hem of its skirt. On the other end of this barnlike space was an assembly line operated by models playing with ceramics. The theatrical performances spoke to the idea of solidarity, said the designer, and how we all “have to work together.”This circus-meets-performance-art setup is classic Vibskov at his best, and it framed a confident collection that spoke to the designer’s strengths. Vibskov chose porcelain, a material that morphs from pliable to an easily broken solid, as one of his main inspirations for spring, studying all aspects of its history, shapes, patterns, and make. White collars and lapels worn by models—and his magnificent creature—were made of porcelain and attached to the clothing a bit like armor. Symbolically it represents the current fragile state of the world, speaking to these tumultuous times we are living in that have revealed the cracks and fault lines in society, culture, and the environment.Workwear was another main influence, and it was these pieces—aprons, boilersuits, and the like—that really stood out. They related to the utility theme that appeared throughout the week, but Vibskov gave them his own spin by, for example, attaching labels inspired by workers’ punch cards. Both themes were worked into the collection as a whole, though Vibskov notes that the former figured more in womenswear and the latter in menswear.This show had all the color, print, unexpected pattern mixes, and unusual materials that one expects of the designer, but things felt tighter and a bit more grown-up than last season. The fabrics—about 90% of which are sustainable, the designer reported—were more sophisticated. These ranged from a khaki plaid, used on neatly tailored suits, to trompe l’oeil wovens, like one that meant to appear dip-dyed. The intarsia knits were also nicely done.“We have to remind ourselves that we have to enjoy the moments when things really are working,” the designer said in a recent interview.
“It’s very unique, and there’s a special feeling about it because you never know if it will continue to the next day.” Vibskov’s show, the week’s finale, was one of those special moments.
13 August 2021
Sometimes it feels like fashion designers are clairvoyants. Cake and the eating of it, the themes of Henrik Vibskov’s fall show, were inspired by a side project with a jazz ensemble a long while ago. At that time the designer had given no thought to his 20th anniversary in fashion, nor could he have predicted the pandemic craze for baking. As Danishes and other sweets are often enjoyed at happy gatherings, which are of course prohibited during lockdown, the collection seems to speak to a collective longing to gather around a table with people we love.Among the main ingredients in Vibskov’s recipe for success these past couple of decades are color and print, but there’s another that’s more elusive—that’s the designer’s multimedia approach to all that he does. Fashion is but one of his artistic expressions; he’s been a drummer since the age of 10. “For me, it’s really important to keep the fire burning and keep the lust and passion, so therefore I really love that I can zoom in on another project.”The cake theme is most directly expressed through intarsia knits and prints, including one that features a recipe for his mother’s apple pie. The designer wasn’t only thinking about sweets, however; there’s one print with tablecloth scribbles and the like.The lineup includes “entrées” like a pastel sweatsuit and a beautiful barrel-shaped coat. Though apron-like dresses are thematic, it would have been nice to see some more mature silhouettes in the fringed plaid blanket series, but that’s a minor quibble. Twenty years in business is something to celebrate. “It’s a strange, weird mix of chaos and then some kind of conservative movements,” says Vibskov of his approach to design. Sweet, indeed.
5 February 2021
It’s a shame not to be able to see a Henrik Vibskov show in person because the experience is always a captivating one. He treats the runway as a stage, typically with some sort of eccentric art performance piece. Watching on a computer screen this season wasn’t the same mind-bending, sensory experience, but even virtually he created a spectacular visual moment around his designs.Last season, his runway show was interrupted by a fire alarm. The elaborate setup included people slowly and meticulously bathing in surrealist tubs and bathrooms, all of whom had to exit the venue with the audience when the alarm went off, only to return to the bathtubs once there was no threat of fire. Vibskov decided to use the experience as a jumping-off point for his spring 2021 designs, presenting a collection inspired by the fashion show fire and a burning motorcycle he saw in the middle of Copenhagen not too long ago.The clothes featured prints incorporating flame motifs, as well as melting ash and a fiery sun; one of the cleverest was created by melting a Polaroid picture onto fabric. The best silhouettes included an oversized baby doll dress and easy suiting; they were polished without feeling stiff or overly sophisticated. On the livestream, models walked down a runway surrounding a herd of gigantic white rocking horses ridden by performers wearing voluminous hoop skirts. Horses were another theme for Vibskov this season: He cited the “horsepower” of the burning motorcycle as well as the fact that horses will typically return to their stall in a burning barn because they perceive it as a safe space. As is typical with a Vibskov collection, there was a lot going on. But as big as his shows and performances are, he designs with the every day in mind. His clothes tend to be quite wearable and approachable, while remaining unique. In other words, they’re fire.
17 August 2020
Henrik Vibskov’s fashion shows double as performance art pieces. This season, there were people painted pink, wearing pink shower caps and pretending to wash themselves in surrealist pink bathtubs surrounded by Memphis-style blocks of tiles. Imagine a bathroom designed by Tim Burton. Vibskov is fascinated by life’s small and seemingly meaningless rituals. This time, he dove into the daily act of bathing: the steam from the shower, and washing with various products and tools. In his show notes, he posed this question: “In a fast-paced and increasingly public world, what happens in this private, meditative space of rituals?” Vibskov is one of the more thoughtful designers on the Copenhagen scene.Rather than hitting everyone over the head with the bathroom theme, though, he wove it into the clothes in a cheeky, clever way. There were jacquards inspired by the interiors of vintage bathroom and glossy textures inspired by water. The prints and embroideries of combs, soap bubbles, toilet paper, and toothbrushes were more obvious, but well executed. Vibskov said that 95% of the collection was made using sustainable materials, in particular the outerwear, which was crafted using 100% recycled PET bottles and used wool from Norway.Despite the artful quirk that is inherent in Vibskov’s approach, this collection was by and large approachable. His designs aren’t for everyone, but they inspire all of us to think outside of the box about fashion—and life in general.
30 January 2020
Floatation devices were on hand at Henrik Vibskov’s show. Inner tubes were stacked in columns at the center of a public basketball court and some were laying airless on the ground, being pumped by dutiful Vibskov team members. The title of his collection was “Stuck Under the Surface,” and it was an exploration of the ways in which we are stagnant in life, in thought, in everything.Vibskov said that “the feeling of being stuck can be a driving force, which pushes you to break out from a given situation, change your point of view, or make you realize that change is needed. Contrariwise it can be the thing that keeps you from making decisions or moving forward—a paralyzing feeling, ruthless, absurd, and sometimes even funny.” Humor was certainly present this season, conveyed via embroideries of lobsters with their claws tied together or printed sardines stuck in a box. Other funny motifs for sweaters, dresses, and tops included a couple stuck dancing a waltz and a ship stranded on a bridge.Vibskov dressed his female models in crafty, mixed-material platform heels, fashioned with pumps, wooden blocks, and foam padding. They were extremely difficult to walk in; many of the girls stumbled and shook, which felt a bit too on the torturous end of restriction. Focusing the eye on the actual clothing, though, reaffirmed Vibskov’s talent—he makes kooky yet totally wearable garments, like tiered checked ruffle dresses and playful but sturdy outerwear. He’s smart in the way he uses simplistic, graphic patterns to punctuate his designs, and he seems to never be without a deep, provocative runway set and collection thesis. He’s certainly not stuck.
8 August 2019
Henrik Vibskov’s combination womenswear and menswear Fall show was not well executed. The sort of amateurism witnessed—between extremely poor crowd control and coordination, a team that just wasn’t getting it, and a 62-minutes-late start time—was too bad. A few minor problems are to be expected; when it’s this rough, it needs a callout.The impression could’ve been salvaged by great clothes, but those that walked the runway—at a glacial pace—came up short. Vibskov can do quirky and arty pep, sometimes with great success, but none of that vibrancy registered in a lineup that was inspired by futuristic farming (namely the cultivation of . . . radishes).Yes, the messaging was nice, in that it promoted green urban practices, but the garments around it were dowdy: Dulled Liberty-esque flower prints opened the show, and silhouettes were mostly oversize—those botanicals turned into stripes and irregular squares on outerwear, but nothing really excited. The most interesting things were tops depicting sheep grazing in wheat fields, while a volcano exploded in the background.
19 January 2019
Henrik Vibskov began his Spring collection by thinking about the wind. The designer pondered how much we depend on this element, whether for transport or for energy. He also acknowledged its darker side, when a refreshing breeze turns into forceful, destructive gusts, storms, and hurricanes. His inspiration was brought to life by the sculptural silhouettes for his latest garments, which reflected the movements of clothes in the wind. Vibskov achieved this with aerodynamic paneling on a dress; a skirt constructed to look as if it were flying at full mast; and cropped capes with sleeves blown up like balloons. More obvious and cheeky references to windy activities came in the form of a sailboat print on a few of the garments and oversize onesies that looked likeTop Gunflight suits from somewhere far in the future.This was a relatively light and easy showing for the Danish designer. He tends to use heavy knits and pile on the layering techniques, but this time there were more silks, wrap dresses, and breezy (both literally and figuratively speaking) tops and trousers alongside the structured pieces. The direct nods to coasting at sea or cruising through the air weren’t as compelling as the collection’s other elements, but in all this was a clever lineup from Vibskov that will take his customers, men and women, through clear skies or storms.
18 September 2018
Henrik Vibskov showed his combined men’s and women’s Fall 2018 collections a few weeks ago in Paris. Yesterday, he stood inside a small booth at Copenhagen’s fashion trade show talking about an art piece by Jan Fabre that he saw in Japan last summer and the runway performance piece he produced that included naked people lying on the floor underneath a taut rubbery film and others above them manually controlling mops to guide their movements. Vibskov is not a trade show guy. The designer needs a stage—some empty space to express his deep thoughts about the intersection of art and fashion. During our conversation, he rarely pointed to the clothes on the racks, instead opting to pull up a video of the Paris show and explain what the Fabre art and the naked robots and, yes, the clothes, too, were about: Our society’s obsession with measurement in all its forms. “We measure ourselves: size, height, distance, amount, time, intelligence, popularity, and even feelings,” Vibskov said. “If we want to change what we care about, shouldn’t we change what we measure?”The naked bodies were a “visualization on how people become the machine controlled by measurements.” A few cardigans and sweaters were decorated with grids and long lines like those found on measuring tape, and numbers popped up on fun scarves and socks, but the majority of the pieces stood out on their own without explanation. His quilted outerwear and tasseled jackets were beautifully made, as were the oversize denim items. Even if you can’t quite pinpoint the through-line all the time, Vibskov’s work leaves an impression, which is certainly a good measure of success.
2 February 2018
Henrik Vibskov’s new collection was dedicated to the art of sport and physical activity, a theme that was theatrically displayed with what he called “deformed yogis” at the center of a runway-in-the-round. As dancers made slow, conscious movements on their mats with tube-like balloons tied to their arms, Vibskov sent out ensembles that included highlights like uniform-inspired striped suits and dresses, as well as belted puffer coats with filling made from recycled plastic bottles.Some of the looks came equipped with oversize fanny packs, while others included pops of colors that the designer borrowed from 1960s-era wooden toys, puzzles, and board games. From the inventive outerwear to the geometric patterns on the bonded wool and jacquard, Vibskov’s lineup was tailor-made for looking cool while on the move.
3 February 2017
On a surprisingly chilly August night in Copenhagen, Danish favoriteHenrik Vibskovdrew a horde of fashion types to the city’s meatpacking district. Between two buildings (some of which remain, even in the much-changed neighborhood, actively home to the actual packing of meat), the designer set up shop, literally. An eerie, theatrical butcher store sprung to life, with rows of hanging stuffed knit “sausages” and workers attending to them.Vibskov, with his idiosyncratic eye, gravitated in particular to the delightful vulgarity of a butcher’s window, of its profusion and flesh-and-blood wares. That hedonistic idea he tempered with the beautiful precision of the martial arts, sending out crisp, obi-belted dresses and poplin shirting . . . all topped off with thick ribbons in a terrific, block-printed salami design. Elegant and offbeat, this collection gave a dynamic sense of the designer’s myriad talents. Knits remain as strong a category for Vibskov as ever, from his mod geometric intarsias to craftier fringed numbers—particularly covetable every time the wind kicked up.
11 August 2016
As names in Danish fashion go,Henrik Vibskovranks among the most prominent. The Central Saint Martins grad’s line is a Scandi favorite, as is his neatly edited multi-brand boutique.This season found Vibskov deploying his signature eccentric prints and arty volumes, as models paraded past a chorus of eerie wooden puppet heads, tongues flapping.
4 February 2016
Founder: Henrik VibskovYear established: 2001Known for: A homespun and offbeat feel, drawing on craftsmanship from around the world, as well as streetwear and experimental shapesWorn by: FKA twigs, Robert PattinsonStocked at: 10 Corso Como (Milan), Club 21 (Singapore), H. Lorenzo (L.A.)Spring 2016 inspired by: Survival, harsh landscapes, nomads in Tunisia, desert huts, and rock formations
5 August 2015
Founder: Henrik VibskovYear established: 2001Known for: A homespun and offbeat feel, drawing on craftsmanship from around the world as well as streetwear and experimental shapesWorn by: FKA twigs, Robert PattinsonFall 2015 inspired by: The "peculiar mind/body attitudes in the health world"
28 January 2015
A Henrik Vibskov show is always that: a show. There's no beating the avant garde Dane for runway oddity. This season, he constructed a runway out of an uneven gangplank over levers and pulleys. When models stepped on key spots, their weight pulled mallets that bashed into a wall of whitewashed drums. They wore the usual Vibskoviana: marled and color-blocked knits, drop-crotch shorts, leggings, and tailored blazers. Fine, even (surprisingly) largely wearable in managed doses, but a bit ho-hum. The lugubrious pacing didn't help. The drums beat mournfully and nearly silently as the guys plodded along. If you're an out-there cult favorite with a late-night show spot and an appetite for oddity, you might as well have the good taste to rock.
18 January 2012
Henrik Vibskov invited his audience to a lycée in the 3rd arrondissement for his show this season, and in its open courtyard, erected an apartment of sorts—one that attendants spun on wheels as beret-clad, goggled models circled through its rooms. To everything there is a season—turn, turn, turn? Maybe the designer was making a comment on the revolving door of life, or the fashion collection cycle, or maybe he was just indulging his usual taste for impenetrable theatrics. As far as the clothes were concerned, they struck the usual Vibskovian balance of outré and cool. Drop-crotch trousers, pleated shorts, and mélange tights were all on display. Statements knits—in sweater, suit, and Perfecto form—were the strongest of the lot. Odds are, they're what the faithful will be snapping off the racks at Vibskov's new NYC shop. And speaking of racks, some pieces came with racks practically included. A series of big-shouldered blazers had wooden dowels jutting through the back and out the sides. Showpieces, surely. They put you in mind of another great showpiece of our time: Carol Burnett's famousGone With the Winddress, curtain rod included.
23 June 2011
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Like aHenrik Vibskovrunway show, for example. At the outset of yesterday's Fall presentation at a Parisian lycée in the 5th, two jumpsuited men in vintage aviator's glasses set about arranging a series of parachute balloons on racks. As the models began their march, those balloons inflated to form two allées of dangling curtains, which surrounded a long table. The catwalk procession continued around it as the two—officiants? whatever they were—sat and applied themselves to the task of melting down small pyramids of jellied goo with blow-dryers. Vibskov called it The Eat.Where's the mastermind who wants to explain all that? Not here. But you wouldn't need him to appreciate the operative point of Vibksov's show, which is, of course, the clothes. The gangling Dane has long favored runway presentations as performance art—not many seasons ago, he used the forum to tell an imagined fable about the death of a farmer's donkey—but they tend to overstate the impossibility of the fashion. In fact, The Eat found Vibskov in quite wearable territory. His preferred silhouette of oversize, blousy tops and jackets and tapering, drop-crotch pants endures. But for Fall, he toned down his palette and used print sparingly. Jackets boasted irregular lapels, some migrating to the middle of the garment in geometric points, others rounded into soft curves. Coats were blown up to become billowing poncho capes. But one of the key—and finest—pieces was a multi-pocketed anorak that required no exegesis at all. Why ask why?
20 January 2011