Henrik Vibskov | Copenhagen Fashion Week AW25
Words by Pravin Nair, Photographs by Lily Maguire
We are voyaging into unknown waters as we witness the convergence of futurism and traditionalism meshing into a singular body. What we witness is the birth of a hybrid – alive, breathing, and fused together. Thread and fabric become sinew. Futurism is now. Henrik Vibskov presents a curious alchemy - combining these two aspects of humanity. A practice that he has been executing and employing with precision since the inception of his eponymous label. As such, we note a thematic emblem that permeates Vibskov’s works, one that I noticed when interviewing him almost three years ago. Teetering between the abstract dystopian and the rich pastures of a possible future, Vibskov continues his practice in his Autumn/Winter ’25 presentation at Copenhagen Fashion Week.
For his latest season, the label put forth a showcase of pieces that centered around the exploration of how human desire exists in wanting to dominate nature and the serene. Titled aptly, “A bit Overwhelmed by the Opaque Resonance”, the set of Vibskov’s show featured a scene almost out of a surrealist painting. With moss growing on silverware, statues and rocks, bowling pins, and a sprawling meal atop a silver tablecloth. The clothes stood powerfully in contrast. Accompanying this, Vibskov’s long-time collaborator and friend, Mikkel Hess and his band, Hess Is More, set the tone and mood of the show whilst performing live.
Nature was used as a symbol for re-setting the ethos in which the label functioned. By way of that, the idea of simplifying a design language was achieved, where Vibskov and his team reverted to basic silhouettes. The styles of pieces that were sent down the runway were inspired by functional outerwear, mountaineering and animals. Jackets with double dusters and Tyrolean feather patches imbue this image of the lone shepherd on the mountainscape. Vibskov’s signature textiles with mountain goats, footprints, and fishermen stand in juxtaposition to the classic use of houndstooth check prints. Look eight, in particular, stands out, where both the top and bottom pieces depict an underwater scene. The look is then draped by a pinstriped shirt, whilst paired with a green and brown outerwear jacket. This is, to me, a great exposition into the title of the show, A bit Overwhelmed by the Opaque Resonance. Things are almost in view but shrouded and convoluted ever so.
Vibskov is no stranger to exemplifying his love for art in his designs. For his AW22 show, the designer referenced the 1972 Russian epic, Solaris, where space explorers discover a distant, far-off planet covered in water that unlocks distant memories. For the said collection, the pieces presented on the runway were a mesh between the vintage retro aesthetic and wonky, strange futurism. AW25 speaks to us, as Vibskov’s collections do – a presence demanding for its existence to be heard, witnessed, even understood. The presence in question is that of the transient nature in which humans are currently interacting with the past, whilst relegating that processing within the current zeitgeist.
