MEET THE SKOVGAARDETTES: INSIDE NICKLAS SKOVGAARD’S SS27 COLLECTION
interview by MARIA MOTA
If there was one show at Copenhagen Fashion Week that really committed to the fantasy, it was Nicklas Skovgaard’s SS27. For his second season working with HOFF, Skovgaard looked to the world of ’60s girl groups, The Supremes, The Ronettes, and built an entire universe around them. The result was Collection 13, introducing us to The Skovgaardettes, a fictional girl group that, for the duration of the show, felt very real.
There were ginghams, pastel jacquards and sculptural silhouettes, all with that slightly kitsch, incredibly charming ’60s feeling, offset by HOFF’s modern sneakers. He also teamed up with HVISK on a capsule of bags, complementing the playful, feminine spirit.
And then there was the music. Copenhagen-based music platform Brodie Sessions brought together True Blue, Lauren Glading and Sharleen Chidiac to perform live. The girls, the clothes, the music, it felt like a ’60s girl group had been dropped into Copenhagen for the afternoon. And, naturally, we wanted to be part of it.
images courtesy of HOFF
What does your design process look like when you begin a new collection? Where does the process usually start for you?
I have a tendency to get really obsessed with something. It can be anything, basically - a chair from a certain style era, a musician, a particular period in time. But very often, it’s something that I find nostalgic. I like to tie my collections to things I have memories of. It could be the way my mother used to dress in the 1980s or the music my father listened to when he was young. So, to put it shortly, my process often starts when I see something that sparks an interest inside me, and from there I start building layers onto what will become the coming collection.
What transported you into a creative state of mind while creating this collection?
My father was a young boy in the 1960s, growing up on a farm in the Danish countryside. Our family farm was actually called Skovgaard, which is why our family name is Skovgaard. I remember him once telling me about how youth culture really started growing in the early 1960s - how pop music and clothes became a thing, and how the younger generation started listening to their own music and buying their own clothes. Today, we’re so used to youth culture demanding what will be the next big thing, so it really fascinated me that this felt so new at the time. I was especially drawn to the girl groups of the 1960s. I loved seeing how they expressed youth, femininity and everything in between through the way they performed, sang and dressed.
There’s a strong sense of the 1960s running through the collection. What drew you to that era?
As a child of the 1990s, I obviously never experienced the 1960s myself, but from hearing about that era, you can really see the revolution that was happening within music and clothing. There were so many ideas and so much power in what they were doing. That really sparked an idea within me. It feels like we kind of need some of that power today.
The collection plays a lot with contrasts, from materials and colours to dressing up and dressing down. Where does that tension come from?
It’s a very integrated part of how I work. I like to play with contrast. It should never just be pretty, or the opposite, for the sake of it. I aim to create that tension in between - something that makes you wonder and think.
What was important to you when developing COLLECTION 13 THE SKOVGAARDETTES and its collaborations?
From the beginning of the brand, collaborations have been so important to me. I believe it’s such a good way to work, and it brings a new energy to every collection. This season, we collaborated with Copenhagen-based music platform Brodie Sessions, who curated a girl group to play at the show. It felt like a natural extension of the whole concept of the collection. In the styling of the collection, I also continued my collaboration with HOFF, using their sneakers in the styling of the looks
This is your second consecutive season collaborating with HOFF. What elements do you see in HOFF that feel especially relevant to your collections and your way of designing and styling?
For me, it has to do with the contrast. My collections very often have a very feminine feel to them, and I like to see the clothes combined with something that pulls them a little bit in another direction. This season, the HOFF sneakers felt like the perfect fit to do so. A floral pale pink and baby blue jacquard A-line dress in combination with the HOFF sneakers in Nappa really complemented each other. To me, it made the look feel like I could actually see someone walking down the street dressed like this.
What came first — the shoes or the clothing? Did one inspire the other, or did they develop alongside each other and ultimately complement one another?
Very often, they develop at the same time. I like to design in full looks. This skirt goes with that jacket, and then these shoes and socks. For me, it’s all about character building, and it’s hard to visualise a full character without thinking about every piece of clothing and accessory that she is wearing.
If you put on your HOFF shoes and your full SS27 Nicklas Skovgaard look, where are you going first?
Well, the life of a Skovgaardette Darlin’ is hard to tell. She does her own thing. She wears her full gingham look, HOFF sneakers with a double nylon sock and a clasp bag carried on the arm. I’m sure she’s arriving in her vintage light blue car, picking up the other Skovgaardette Darlins' and then heading to the next gig.