This is the first time since his debut collection in 2014 that Martin Asbjørn has created clothes for women... well sort of. The designer doesn't want to focus on gender but just create looks everyone can wear. Here he talks exclusively to Vogue Scandinavia about his shiny new collection
The starting point for Martin Asbjørn’s AW22 collection, presented today at Copenhagen Fashion Week, was rather straightforward: “Great clothes.” “I didn’t even make a moodboard,” the Danish designer tells me. “I just went with what felt right.”
Asbjørn’s first live presentation in two years, it was a significant moment for the designer, who has shown exclusively menswear since he launched his eponymous brand in 2014. Today, for the very first time, he sent womenswear down the runway… sort of. Inspired by the younger generation and, as he puts it, these “gender blurry lines,” Asbjørn presented thirty looks – 15 on male models, 15 on female – that could appeal to a customer of either or any gender. He isn’t keen on the term “unisex" or “genderless”… perhaps we should just call them clothes. “I basically don’t care who buys it,” he says.
This particular moment has been a long time coming for Asbjørn, who grew up expressing himself in ways that were not always well received. “I’m a homosexual guy. I grew up loving clothes and not being celebrated in any way for how I dress,” he says. One can picture a young Asbjørn traipsing through Copenhagen in skinny jeans and a sequinned top, a tiny shrunken vest to complete the look. “When I’m looking back at old pictures of myself, I’m like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I actually wore that, and wore it on the streets'.” Now, 25 years later, fashion has caught up with the designer – sheer shirts and crop tops, dresses and skirts are no longer just the purview of womenswear. We’ve entered our ‘anything goes’ era, and Asbjørn has long since been ready.
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Garments should live much longer than one season
What that looks like for AW22 is gorgeous tailoring and unexpected layering. “There’s a lot of three pieces,” he says. A suit jacket is met with flared trousers, topped with a pleated miniskirt. Blazers are placed atop blazers. The total looks are great – impossibly cool, even – but items can easily be cherry picked and slotted into a wardrobe at will. “That is essentially how people buy clothes,” Asbjørn says.
Even among all those layers, there’s still space for the designer’s favourite descriptor: sexy. “When I started designing, I felt like the word sexy was a no-no,” he says. “I think sexiness in menswear and womenswear is super important. You want to feel good when you dress up. You want to have a sex appeal and be attractive.” Here it’s found in whispers – a sheer high-necked body beneath metallic outerwear somehow feels more sensual than bare skin ever could. A transparent sequinned dress in mint green, cut to the navel in J-Lo fashion, is grounded by wide-legged trousers.
In keeping with his tendency to march one step ahead, Asbjørn has emphasised sustainability in his work long before it became a mandatory buzzword. This season, he continues to work with surplus fabrics (“I’ve always done that,” he says). He’s stuck with the same three factories since day one, ensuring that they meet his exacting tailoring standards while treating their workers fairly. Finally, there is the enduring emphasis on quality – the desire to make clothes that are built to last. To further drive home this point, he only releases two collections per year. “I’m hoping I can keep it that way forever,” he says. “Garments should live much longer than one season.”
Though Asbjørn is keen to leave his clothes open to interpretation, I’m curious who the Martin Asbjørn woman is, given that this is technically her maiden voyage. “She’s not afraid of getting some attention,” he says. “She’s elegant. And she knows she’s a boss.”