Anne Sofie Madsen

Barely in her thirties, Danish School of Design graduate Anne-Sofie Madsen has already successfully completed the check-list of every aspiring fashion designer. Intern for John Galliano – done! Junior designer at Alexander McQueen – done! Participant at London Fashion Week (well, to be just, at the Vauxhall Fashion Scout Show, but still…) – done! And just few months ago her S/S 2012 collection was the opening piece at the Copenhagen Fashion Week.

Looking into her background and her creations it would seem that Anne-Sofie’s heart lies in couture, but she manages superbly to translate the meticulous detailing, impeccable quality and creative merit of high fashion into a pret-a-porter line. Her designs are ones of contradiction and opposition – delicate, yet aggressive; contemporary and innovative, while in the same time elemental and archetypal. Her illustrations (because Anne-Sofie Madsen is also an outstanding illustrator) are also both graceful and fragile, as well as sombre and gothic.

Her latest collection, combination of modern silhouettes and tribal motifs, is called “Mononoke”, inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s animation “Princess Mononoke”. Madsen explains that in Japanese “mononoke” means “monster”. She chose that image in order to convey the duality of her designs, in which she used shapes and techniques from both classical ballet costume making and the late Japanese Muromachi period.  Beautifully crafted, yet somewhat rough suede applications and patterns are pasted as intricate decorations onto sensual see-through mesh. Crude leather collars and metallic elements are paired with romantic pleats and airy materials. Madsen makes a magnificent presentation of Danish fashion, earning favourable critiques, classifying her as the most promising Danish designer.