As the sun set over Copenhagen, Søren Le Schmidt shocked our senses with sweeping silhouettes and neon yellow
True to form, Danish designer Søren Le Schmidt chose a stark colour scheme when creating the spring/summer 2023 collection of his eponymous brand. This season, there was signature black and white, contrasted by a singular shocking yellow. Slowly sprinkled throughout the first part of the collection, the citrus shade soon took over, completely saturating ball-gown skirts, T-shirts and tuxedos alike. "This year I really wanted to focus more than ever on evening wear and more couture elements in my designs," Le Schmidt explained.
The show was held in the iconic area of Refshaleøen in Copenhagen, known for its industrial history overlooking the harbour of the Danish capital. The industrial rawness of the location stood in contract to the elevated evening wear and architectural elements on the runway. "My source of inspiration came from architecture and the classic elements of suiting broken down and put together in a new way.," Le Schmidt expanded on the silhouettes in the line-up. "The idea was to take asymmetric lines and cuts and combine them with something unnatural and surprising." This manipulation of the classic suit brought the brand into a new era, combining the old-school idea of couture with a younger and more rock and roll visual aesthetic.
As before, the Danish brand worked with leftover fabrics and upcycled items from previous collections for spring / summer 2023, elevated by texture and tactility found in feathers, tulle and faux fur. Throughout the gender fluid collection, Le Schmidt wishes to wash out the normative way of thinking when it comes to gendered clothing – demonstrated in a bright yellow ball gown sported by a male model during the show – creating a new and interesting focus on fluidity for the brand.
See the full collection below:
Søren Le Schmidt SS23
