CECILIE BAHNSEN

How Bahnsen Balances It All

By Bonnie Langedijk

Cecilie Bahnsen is not about reinvention. The Dane has built a brand where each collection builds upon the next. By doing so, she creates more value for consumers to buy into the brand, as it feels as more of an investment. A piece you can cherish over time rather than having to replace it with something new next season. A unique proposition in the $1.5 trillion fashion industry, where the focus is usually on the new over the old. Most brands and consumers easily trade in one trend for another. Launching her eponymous label in 2015 after working with John Galliano and Erdem Moralioglu, things moved quickly for Bahnsen once she was nominated for the LVMH Prize. But the designer decided to move at her own pace, launching the brand from her home country of Denmark, over one of the obvious fashion cities. Operating on the intersection of couture and ready-to-wear, Bahnsen has found a way of making a big, feminine, sculptural dress somehow feel sensible. 

We spoke with the Danish designer about building a brand universe beyond just product, collaboration and how to slow down in the fast-paced fashion industry.

Bonnie: You’ve developed a very recognizable aesthetic. I would say it’s feminine, but with a Scandinavian sensibility. What’s your approach to dressing women or how you want them to feel in your clothes?

Cecilie: It’s always been a very strong feminine universe with a romance to it but it’s balanced. It’s feminine and decadent but it’s also very Scandinavian, minimalistic and functional. You need to want to wear it on a Monday as well as on a Friday. It needs to live with you. I hope that’s why it’s relatable to people. I don’t want a dress to overshine the woman who wears it. I want her to put it together in her way. It should be more than just having this complete Cecilie Bahnsen look. It’s about her. It’s about her electricity, her energy and how she feels in it. We always talk about clothes that should empower us and make us feel stronger. But it’s also allowed to be vulnerable and to be yourself. 

When you think back, who were the key figures in your life who inspired you to make clothes?

Cecilie: My grandma had a big impact. I always loved to draw, sew and embroider. When she looked after me, that’s what we would do. As a child I didn’t see that it could be a profession but it was my quiet time with her. The craft of it all is where I feel at home in this industry. 

“I don’t want a dress to overshine the WOMAN who wears it. I want her to put it together in her way.”

And how did you develop your craft from there?

Cecilie: In Denmark you do a week's internship, and my mom was a seamstress at the design school so I did mine there. I saw all these moodboards the students had [made] and this universe of creativity. I was only 12, and I was sold. Once I got in and did my BA there, I met Anja Vang Kragh there who really inspired me a lot, and kind of took me under her wing. She used to work for John Galliano. We made costumes for the Royal Ballet and the opera and had this very extravagant approach to fashion that isn’t Scandinavian in any way. Aesthetically and culturally it was really different. But it was amazing to see that there weren't any limits to ideas or dreams. She also got me a spot at Galliano, where I started as an intern and later in print design. It again was this universe of creativity where we did everything by hand. Nearly never touching a computer was unusual and it really inspired me to keep pursuing [working in that way].

You also worked with Erdem in London. How was that different from working with Galliano? 

Cecilie: I learned what it takes to make a business [succeed]. It’s not just about the creative. To see him make it, and to see that it’s possible to have a balance between business and creative mind, definitely inspired me. I knew that one day I wanted to do that but I wanted to do it somewhere different to London or Paris. When I was at Galliano he did mens- and womenswear at Dior and he had Galliano. It was crazy. And Erdem also had a lot of collections, capsules, and so on. I wanted to step away from this fast pace. I wanted to find my own way of finding the time to create and develop my own aesthetic. Denmark felt like the right place for me to do that. 

It’s interesting that you moved back to Denmark to escape the fast pace, but once you launched the brand things moved really quickly regardless. 

Cecilie: Yes, we launched the brand in 2015 with just 10 pieces. Dover Street [Market] saw the brand during London Fashion Week and bought it exclusively for the first two seasons and that started it. It was a great way to get into doing your own brand. After the LVMH Prize things moved fast. We went from ten accounts to 27 in one season. It allowed us to really build the brand and the team. To build a company and a creative vision that isn’t just for me, but for all these creative people I get to work with everyday is incredible. 

You started out showing in Copenhagen but recently decided to show in Paris. Why?

Cecilie: Home, family, having quietness and being close to nature while designing is important to me. But I’m also ambitious and I’m an international brand. It was the right step for the brand to take it to Paris. And for me it had to be Paris. It’s the city of fashion, of romance, of craftsmanship, of history. It’s a really big compliment that we’re able to create collections at this level and to be on the physical schedule in Paris. It was really about taking the brand to the next level. [Showing in] Copenhagen has allowed the brand to grow and define who we are. It has defined what a show is for me, and what story and emotional connection you can tell with a show. That it maybe doesn’t have to be so grand, it can be quite simple. It’s been the right journey for the brand to start at home. 

I agree. I often think about how you can expand a brand beyond their products. How you can create a brand universe by creating within different formats and allowing other creatives to expand on the world you’ve created. You’ve created movies, exhibitions and worked with different creatives. What’s your take on expanding the Cecilie Bahnsen universe?

Cecilie: There’s something incredibly giving about trying to work in a new format. Creating a movie that actually reaches many more people, telling a story, connecting in a different way. It’s a different way of working and also challenging creatively. We always want to push the brand and what we do. We’ve worked with Okay Kaya on a sound installation, a photo exhibition with Takashi Homma. It’s this idea of collaborations and people’s different takes on my feminine universe. It’s nice to play with what’s expected or not expected and to put up something different. You just need to stay true to what feels right. 

Completely. And also allowing creatives you work with the freedom to add their twist on the brand allows your brand to become bigger than just one singular vision. 

Cecilie: Completely. For example with Takashi Homma, I’ve always been such a fan of his. He shoots a lot of Tokyo still lives of the city, of the streets just empty or teenagers drifting. There’s been something about the composition, of the colors of the empty space, that really inspired me. With Homma we just sent the collection off, and that was it. He chose the model, he chose the location, he chose everything. On Saturday you knew the photoshoot was happening in Tokyo but you had no idea what it would look like. There was both a real freedom in that but also something super scary about letting go in such a way. But then when it comes back, of course it’s him but there is also still so much of our identity in there. It’s a nice balance. 

It’s all about trust. If you love someone’s work so much, you know you can let it go and it will turn out to be something you love.

Cecilie: Exactly, and it will push you. And it will inspire you. That’s what is great about collaborations, it’s always something new that adds to your universe and that makes sense of it. Whether it’s a photoshoot, a gallery we do the show in or Bengt [Thornefors] who we create furniture with for all the stores, installations and so on. It’s a nice transaction.

Absolutely, and also stepping outside of the fashion world can give you energy and inspiration. I think it allows you to slow down a little.

Cecilie: Exactly. That’s really important. During the pandemic we decided to go back to just doing two seasons, which is something I wanted to do for a long time. We did four seasons when we were a younger brand. Especially for cash flow and to make it work throughout the year. The pre collections were so important to just maintain. But it didn’t allow us to give [the] love to the pieces we created. It became a little bit of a blur. You just went from one [collection] into another. Suddenly having 5 months to create a collection is so valuable creatively. This stuff we create needs time. It only makes it better. And it makes sense in the time we live in to not rush through it. Each garment is going to live a long life after the catwalk. 

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.