Danish designer Amalie Røge Hove grants Vogue Scandinavia backstage access inside her atelier as she prepares for the brand's forthcoming Copenhagen Fashion Week show
Most knitwear brands thrive in the endless chill of Scandinavian winter. A. Røge Hove on the other hand… “It’s not the regular thick knit,” says designer Amalie Røge Hove. “People are like, ‘You’re not really a winter brand. How are you going to participate in this?” The “this” to which she refers is Copenhagen Fashion Week AW22, in which Hove is very much participating, precisely one week from today.
This season marks A. Røge Hove’s second runway presentation. So much has happened for the designer and her namesake brand in the intervening months since she took the talent slot at CPHFW SS22. Not only has her following grown – more customers, more stockists more, well, followers – she also took home Denmark’s prestigious Magasin du Nord prize, a whopping €40,000 to invest in her growing knit empire. It seems every time she pops up on my screen for a Zoom, the conversation begins by me gushing: “What a year you’re having.” This time, however, I start by complimenting her fresh pixie cut. “If I’m a little bit bored I want something to happen,” she says. “And then it’s the hair.”
Photo: A. Røge Hove
Photo: A. Røge Hove
While a dramatic haircut can be about reinvention, for Hove, each new collection is more about innovation and adaptation. In preparing for this season, it was about adapting her slinky knits to the colder weather. “I’m thinking so much about styling and layering,” Hove says. “There’s so much potential for using our styles all year round – it’s about helping people imagine things in a different context.” Pieces were pared back to their “simplest forms” to allow for an emphasis on styling. It is no surprise that Hove has found inspiration in Instagram (“it’s really a gift”) where fans find unexpected ways to interpret her designs. In our current print issue, Young Royals superstar Omar Rudberg wears an A. Røge Hove cardigan under an oversized blazer. Today, the designer wears a vest of her own making atop a white puff-sleeved shirt.
Photo: A. Røge Hove
Hove is never not working on her craft. “Even though we’ll present the same technique, we’ll always improve it,” she says. This collection finds two entirely new rib techniques, which she describes as “much more graphic, in a way.” While her garments typically serve unapologetic body, new approaches give way to silhouette. “They act differently on the body, allowing us to create other shapes,” she says.
Still, Hove’s designs invariably take their cues from the form that wears them. Last season, she was celebrated for her casting – a gorgeous showcase of shape. It felt at once organic and empowering. This season, she aims to push inclusivity in her casting even further. It’s an involved process, that requires a lot of time and consideration. “It’s a fun mission to track down people,” she says. “I really want people to feel confident in the clothes, so I have all of [the models] down here, dressing them in different styles.”
Related: A. Røge Hove - runway - SS22
Photo: A. Røge Hove
Despite the great expectations for Hove’s second outing, today she exudes a calm confidence. She tells me in a no-nonsense manner that she feels the show will be “really great.” “We’re improving all the time – our product is becoming better and more beautiful,” she says. The words of a designer who’s only just begun to explore all the nooks and crannies of her wheelhouse.