Meet Nanna Burmeister, the woman behind the rising Danish knitwear brand Deima, loved by the likes of Pernille Teisbaek, Alexa Chung and Amanda Seyfried
For as long as she can remember, making clothes has been a part of Nanna Burmeister’s identity. The founder of Danish knitwear brand Deima spent her childhood in creative workshops feeding her desire to experiment with textiles and design. “I was always the type of child that needed to keep my hands busy in order to stay focused and be present,” she tells Vogue Scandinavia. “I’ve always loved sewing, be it by hand or with a machine, embroidery and anything that had to do with mending clothes.”
It makes sense then that in 2017 – during her pregnancy with her first child – she decided to transition this beloved hobby into a full time business. “I was so heavily pregnant that I couldn’t do anything but sit at home, so I started knitting again. I was initially just making baby blankets and as soon as my child was born, I started knitting clothes for him.” However, she soon got bored of the infant wear and began creating designs for herself.
“At the time, I was working in a clothing store in Copenhagen on the side and I’d come in wearing the clothes I’d made for myself.” The owner, who was a fellow knitwear enthusiast, loved her designs so much that she put Burmeister,’s clothes to the test by making space for four of her pieces to be sold in the store. “I made two sweaters and two cardigans and they were all sold within three days,” she recalls. “I immediately took it as a sign to start selling my clothes, so I made an Instagram account which I was running on my own and then began selling to clients via my DMs.”
Photo: Deima
Today, Deima has grown into an established made-to-wear slow fashion brand that values quality, longevity and sustainable production at its core. All pieces are created by hand using local Scandinavian yarn suppliers, who carefully knit garments in a process that takes over 35 hours. Ironically, it was the pandemic that helped boost the business from a small Instagram account to a lucrative online retailer as well as a brick and mortar boutique located in a charming townhouse in the heart of Copenhagen.
“During COVID there was so much focus on small businesses and supporting local brands and I really benefited from that," she admits. “When I first launched, I didn’t have time to make all the items, so I very quickly found a few elderly ladies to help me knit. It wasn’t until 2020 that my clothes really started to become popular. A few of my staple pieces like my yolk sweaters with very Scandi patterns, which is actually the signature Deima piece, were in such high demand and things just escalated from there.”
While 80% of her stock is custom-made to her clients, Burmeister makes a few pieces to showcase the brand’s style. “If I make an item, people will most likely buy it in that colour, but a few people do have their own ideas of what they want me to make for them, then I send them a colour chart and they select their own combination of what they’d like. It’s always a collaborative process.” During the summer months, her crochet collection, made up of tops, dresses and mini skirts, is a huge hit.
Meanwhile, trendy knitwear accessories like balaclavas, beanies and bonnets are favoured in the winter. Her colour palettes vary from bright and vibrant to more earthy tones, depending on the customer’s preference. “My brand is for everyone. I make designs for the party girl and the nature girl, and everything in between,” says Burmeister. “Knitwear is so popular right now, especially in Scandinavian fashion. I used to sit and knit in coffee shops with my son in his stroller and people would look at me like ‘what is she doing?’ but not everyone knits all the time in Copenhagen. It’s everywhere.”
The trend is one Burmeister believes will stand the test of time, with hopes of Deima expanding into international shipping and growing its clientele around the world. “It’s such an exciting time right now and I love how huge knitting has become. It’s inspiring to see all the new brands launching too and it only pushes me to continue to do what I love and see how far I can go with it. For me, it’s about creating timeless pieces. Everything I make has to be worth treasuring.”