Launched three seasons ago at Copenhagen Fashion Week, A. Roege Hove is already a Scandinavian favourite. Here, the woman behind the brand opens up about her support network and what inspires her on the daily
Welcome to our bi-monthly series "Take five" featuring inspiring Scandinavian tastemakers on the five life-enhancing items, habits or encounters that have helped ensure a balanced, joy-filled life.
Over the past few seasons, Copenhagen Fashion Week has made a name not only for its outstanding sustainability efforts but as a key gathering point for exciting talent. One of the most striking young designers of the moment to have found the spotlight is Amalie Røge Hove.
With her eponymous label A. Roege Hove, she has served up a dazzling revitalisation of knitwear. After being introduced to monofilament, an ultra-stretchable fibre usually used by surgeons, the designer honed her craft to sculptural designs that play with volume, draping, gathering, and transparency. Naturally following the form of the body, her delicate fabrics herald a new, seductive era of contemporary womenswear as she renders a timeless, empowering uniform.
But what got her to this point? Vogue Scandinavia has got the answers.
The unrelenting support of her mum
“My mum is educated in textile design just like I am. Having had her and her massive collection of textiles and machines in our house makes me look back on my childhood as a very long introduction to my work life today. It might feel like it was fate that I came to inherit her creative spirit and her love of materials and craftsmanship. She believed in me from the start and ultimately encouraged me to start my label. She still uses my bags – which were the first designs for my brand – in order to carry her shopping.
“For me and my mum, our hobbies and work are fully intertwined and in our day-to-day lives, we always create. I could say she is my biggest champion, though that might sound cheesy. Having someone that understands one’s innate drive to create is something that I have come to cherish over the years.”
London’s creative culture
“Moving to London after finishing high school was a move that had a huge impact on my life. I went abroad in order to figure out whether I should follow my dream of a career in fashion or I should take a higher education in innovation and finance instead. Experiencing the full creative breadth that London has to offer and being right in the middle of such an incredibly inspiring environment, made me realise that I was on the right path with fashion design."
Collaborative spaces
“When I started at the Danish fashion university KADK in the textiles department, it felt like I had finally come home. I had never been the best in class, nor was I interested in school when I was a child. I almost think it’s rather a rule than the exception that creative people need to find ways to express their talents and interests outside of the school system.
“At KADK, I was around like-minded students that I felt I connected with and whose creative perspectives encouraged me to throw myself fully into my studies. For the first time in my life, I found myself working wholeheartedly on a subject matter and creative outlet that was just an unstoppable source of inspiration to me."
New experiences abroad
“My time in Shanghai gave me a unique perspective on how to transform the creative – and sometimes quite abstract – ideas in my head into products that would be able to be produced and sold.
“I learned about the possibilities within the craftsmanship and how to innovate it on different types of very advanced and complex knitting machines. Living in Shanghai gave me the time and experience of immersing myself in the world of knit and it taught me so much about yarns, fibres, and material in this period."
Having faith in yourself
“Starting my brand – and moving it out of our living room – has thoroughly changed my life as I know it. While it has been a huge undertaking and learning for me, in ways I am still discovering, the support I have gained from global industry leaders to my family and friends has been overwhelming.
“After having worked in the studios for the likes of Cecilie Bahnsen, Mark Kenly Domino Tan, and others, I had gotten a solid amount of industry experience. I finally wanted to explore what my own visual identity would look like. So, I started my brand just after I had my daughter and began creating bags. Jumpers followed and soon, I had pulled together a full collection.
“I am creating four collections a year now that I present at Copenhagen Fashion Week and take to Paris for sales. Sometimes I feel like my feet are barely touching the ground, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”