by Omi
Astrid Andersen is the toast of Scandi-fashion right now. This London based Scandi brand has been tearing up the streetwear and athleisure like nobody's business. So her Copenhagen Fashion Week catwalk was not only eagerly anticipated but also somewhat expected as a staple for the Scandi market.
Continuing her exploration of finding equipoise between tradition and modernity within the realm of athleisure, Astrid marched on by introducing an archetypical aesthetic for a generation that is comfortable in flux and gender neutral clothing. The evolution of Astrid's vision is readily available in each singular look presented during her Copenhagen fashion week show. While the philosophical curiosity is the driving force behind Astrid's evolution (at times incremental) the DNA of the brand has not changed in that evolution.
Watching the collection from backstage to front row, one realizes that the voice of Astrid's generation is amplified through her exploration of this sort of "devil may care but i don't" aesthetics. This should not be taken as a form of casualness as it is anything but. Her collective ideas are well constructed and as opposed to providing multiple visions she sticks to providing a singular narrative like a designer completely comfortable in her own skin. That level of maturity in a brand that strictly caters to a generation of millennials is astounding and refreshing.
Her collaboration with Monies jewelry, the famed avant-garde company suggests despite the iconoclastic nature of Astrid's work, she is quite familiar with the foundation of which her sense of aesthetics is built on. If her traditionalism is deeply rooted in her presentation, her collaborators are products of globalization. The Astrid Andersen and Monies capsule features unique Brazilian mountain crystals combined with Acacia wood discs from the Philippines – handcrafted and designed at the Monies Copenhagen harbor front workshop especially for Astrid Andersen. If previous collections of Astrid's work bordered on the rebellious and untamed nature of neo-luxury in the form of streetwear, then this collection is a step up into a more matured territory. The rebellion is still there, but like all maturing artists learning on the job, Astrid finds that unique point of balance where rebellion and tradition, tribalism and cosmopolitanism feed of each other. If this trajectory of her works remains, then she will surely move onto rarified territory as one of the foremost voices of her generation.
