The Danish designer lets Vogue Scandinavia behind the scenes ahead of his CPHFW show for a sneak peek on the AW22 collection
Mark Kenly Domino Tan is guided by his tailoring past. “I knew from an early age that creating clothes is what I wanted to do,” the designer tells me during a video chat ahead of Copenhagen Fashion Week. He wears what I would only describe as a look quintessential to MKDT Studio – an impeccably made blazer, a string of pearls and his trademark glasses.
At first chance, Tan went into tailoring. Upon graduation, he headed to Paris and later London, where he developed his skills at international powerhouses such as Dior, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen. “I was working in their ateliers, being very hands-on,” he reminisces. “It was in dressmaking, meaning no seam was left unfinished. The insides had to be as beautiful as the outsides.”
In 2014, Tan moved back to Denmark. “I had a Danish boyfriend, and I wanted to see where things would go,” he explains. “When I was looking for work, I didn’t find a brand that fit what I was doing or my profile.” As a result, the designer decided to launch his eponymous label.
MKDT's impeccably organised studio.
Materials on MKDT's mood board for AW22.
Since the start, MKDT Studio has focused on traditional tailoring techniques and fit. “We started with the atelier and still have a lot of custom clients to this day,” he says. At the start, Tan estimates that 60 per cent of his work came through the atelier, while 40 per cent were ready-to-wear. Today, that division has shifted in favour of the RTW. “With that said, I think our atelier work is invaluable,” Tan points out. “Doing the custom stuff and fittings, we’re reminded of what it is that we do. After all, at the end of the day, it is two arms, two legs, and a torso,” he says.
His designs are always impeccably made, with hallmarks of heritage tailoring setting the overall tone for the brand. Updating traditional styles with an innate understanding of form, fit and fabric, Tan elevates his garments – moving from the generic to the refined. “My process is very old-school,” he says. “I need to see the way the fabric moves and try things out before I can sketch it and visualise it.”
“I’m a bit of a perfectionist,” Tan admits. He tells me how, occasionally, he will straighten out documents or items on the team’s desks in the studio. “I think it comes from my tailoring background,” he says. “When you make adjustments to a tailor-made fit, you have to be precise and organised.”
Previews of some of the pleated looks in MKDT's AW22 collection.
The upcoming season, Tan reveals, all stems from a conversation about American artist Georgia O’Keeffe. “I was talking with a friend in Paris during couture week, and she just stuck with me,” Tan explains. Recognised as ‘the mother of American modernism’, her blown up paintings of Mexican landscapes, where water meets earth and sky, was a visual starting point for Tan.
The colour palette is one aspect of the AW22 collection clearly derived from the artwork. The muscovado and chestnut browns, anthracite grey and camel offset with ivory and black mimics the tonal shifts in O’Keeffe’s paintings.
Materiality was also crucial in the upcoming collection, with the traditional pieces cut from tactile merino wool, silk, cashmere and cotton twill shaped and moulded to create a new expression. Structured silk twill is softened with lightweight wool flannel, and merino wool and soft French terry separates are given structure when paired with crisp cotton and crepes.
MKDT's AW22 show will be held at the Danish National Gallery in Copenhagen.
The resulting timeless designs are again a testament to Tan’s tailoring chops and are very much in line with his brand’s view on sustainability. “Instead of throwing around empty promises, we try to think about every step,” he says. “Every time we sit down to work, we think: How can I make this better? Does this garment actually need to be added to the world?” We’re definitely about longevity and this kind of educational aspect of buying a piece of clothes.” He continues, “I set out to make daily armour for my customer in a way.”
And if there is one thing Mark Kenley Domino Tan can do, it is to mould his clothing into elevated separates and enviable ensembles. To create and curate the perfect sartorial shield to face the next season in.
Watch MKDT’s CPHFW show on 3 February at 13:00.