By Malene Birger: free-spirited and versatile Danish design at its best
Blending Scandinavian minimalism with more eclectic, international influences, the Danish label offers easy-wearing pieces for the everyday that are anything but understated
Since its inception in 2003, Danish label By Malene Birger has become known for its eclectic approach to Scandinavian minimalism – pieces that are rooted in the everyday but with a playful edge that renders them anything but ordinary. Think sumptuous sweaters with curved proportions, boxy blazers with directional silhouettes and innovative design details and easy-wearing patterned pants with ankle-grazing hems.
For FW21, the brand, now creatively helmed by designer Maja Dixdotter, channels the spirited mood that Danish design, and the label, has become known for. Looking to the heyday of bohemiana, Dixdotter juxtaposed this artful mood with a reductionist approach, culminating in a collection that is at once contrasting yet cohesive – think neutral woollen overcoats in elongated lengths that are given a textured tactility with fringe trimming; or fitted evening knits with artisanal ruching and sculptural sleeves. The entire collection feels like a maximalist take on bohemian minimalism.
“I wanted the collection to feel substantial even from a distance, so we worked with exaggerated textures and blown-up details,” says Dixdotter of the collection, which has a rich color palette that draws from the earth – where reds are layered upon reds, ecrus upon ecrus. The simple, head-to-toe tonality makes its own statement – and makes getting dressed each morning a swift process. Simply layer up and go. “A lot of beauty can be found when you look close enough,” she says.
“By Malene Birger brings a mood of playful utility, where romanticism and femininity are meshed with more masculine details, or softened to give clothes an everyday wearability
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It’s perhaps no surprise that By Malene Birger offers this versatile collection so seamlessly. In the near-two decades since its inception, the label has come to embody the Scandinavian fashion landscape and has been an early architect of what today constitutes Danish style. That is, a mood of playful utility, where contemporary bohemia is meshed with more masculine details, or softened to give clothes an everyday wearability.
This season, By Malene Birger has created pieces that draw from the prairie but are undeniably urban. Knitwear’s soft tactility is found on fluted dresses with ribbing that adds texture; crisp mannish shirting features delicate rushing for an added air of femininity, while pants are loosely cut and often pool at the hem, making them just as wearable with sneakers for off-duty weekends as with boots for the office.
In other words, these are clothes that are appropriate no matter your mood or location, so you’ll want to wear them again and again. From city to countryside, boardroom to bar, By Malene Birger offers investment pieces that you will cherish for years to come.